


The Parturiency

by Daxmvarg



Series: Fire Emblem Fates: A Tale of Two Royals [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Depression, F/M, Fluff, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:08:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22796812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daxmvarg/pseuds/Daxmvarg
Summary: Hello there. This "mini-arc" of sorts will take place during Arc 4: Tales of a New Valla. I was originally going to simply have this plot play out over the course of 2-3 chapters, but after realizing that I could make something of this, I decided to make this a full-fledged mini-arc.
Relationships: Aqua | Azura/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin
Series: Fire Emblem Fates: A Tale of Two Royals [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1335700
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13





	1. The Parturiency

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there. This "mini-arc" of sorts will take place during Arc 4: Tales of a New Valla. I was originally going to simply have this plot play out over the course of 2-3 chapters, but after realizing that I could make something of this, I decided to make this a full-fledged mini-arc.

Azura often kept a list of things she hated in her mind. Spiders? Check. Giant, mad dragons hellbent on bringing about the extinction of the human race? Double check. Holding court in front of a crowd of people? The paper's practically smeared in ink at that point.

It didn't help that she's been feeling _incredibly_ exhausted lately, what with her back hurting out of the blue one day and what she assumed was her monthly cramps starting to pound the lower half of her body into a pulpy, bloody mess. Add in headaches and dizziness from reading through dozens upon dozens of pages of reports, and the very last thing she wanted to do was to hold court. Of course, this meant the one day her back pains went from mind-destroying to soul-splitting, her cramps went from aggravated assault to first-degree murder, and her headache went from dizzying to head-splitting, she had to hold court.

Wonderful. Just. Wonderful.

"Why did you drag me out here again?" she asked Corrin, not bothering to hide her annoyance at the fact that she was being forced to hold court with him in front of a dozen or so nobles. "I thought you said that _you_ would handle all the political stuff."

Without looking towards her, Corrin whispered out the side of his mouth, "Are you saying that you would prefer doing paperwork over holding court?"

"Yes!" Azura whispered back, glancing nervously towards the crowd of nobles assembled before her. "You know I'm terrible with crowds! Why did you bring me out here to begin with?"

"Because it was the only way to get Count Hansen to meet with me in New Gyges," Corrin explained patiently. "He got most of his power from Garon, which means he can be a bit…full of himself."

"Then why didn't you force him to meet you here on _your_ terms without me!" Azura asked.

Corrin glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow incredulously. "Are you mad?" he asked. "Count Hansen owns four of some of the richest mines in New Valla! We need his permission to use those mines if we're going to have enough money to buy food and supplies for this winter!"

"Then why didn't you force him to give you control of the mines?" Azura asked, exasperated. "Aren't you king? Are your powers not absolute?"

"I'm not Garon," Corrin said, ears slightly twitching. "Even as I keep the nobles in check, the nobles keep me in check. Pressuring Hansen to make a decision will only strain our relationships between Nohr and New Valla. Even though a majority of Count Hansen's land lie on our side of the border, his mines coincidentally fall on the other side."

"Of course they do," Azura said sarcastically. "Because you can't go a minute in court without someone or something inconveniencing you."

Corrin frowned and glanced at her again. Sarcastic and blunt remarks were nothing new with Azura—hell, they were part of the reason why he loved her so much—but her bad mood was certainly unusual.

"Can we not do this right now?" Corrin hissed. "I'm sorry if I upset you earlier, but—"

"I'm not mad at you," Azura huffed, crossing her arms. "I just want to get this over with."

"Azura—"

"Ahem, King Corrin?"

Corrin turned to look down at Count Hansen standing before him. The man was thin of build but lean of muscle. There was a wiry scar running down the side of his face, most likely the result of some childhood accident, and he had an auburn-colored goatee curling around his chin.

"Did you hear what I was saying, milord?" Count Hansen asked in his high, reedy voice. "I'm sorry to interrupt you and your queen's conversation, but—"

"Wife," Corrin corrected automatically. "And no, I did not hear what you were saying. My apologies. Can you please repeat?"

Count Hansen looked like an outraged bird, especially with the way he puffed up his chest and shoulders. "My lord, I will have you know, I live very far away! I do not appreciate you engaging in small talk with your queen while I'm trying to—"

"I am well aware of the effort it took for you to come here," Corrin interrupted calmly. "And I am very grateful to you for making the journey. However, would it not be a more efficient use of your time if we were to discuss the subject you came here for?"

Puffing his chest out slightly less, Count Hansen coughed into his hand and brushed some imaginary lint of his shoulders. "Ah, yes, I suppose that would be more…appropriate. As I was saying, your highness, there are numerous details that we must…discuss."

"Then let us do so," Corrin said, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward with enthusiasm, hands clasped together under his chin. "I'm looking forward to this."

Azura groaned.

* * *

Two hours later, they broke for lunch. As soon as the doors boomed shut behind the nobles, Azura rose out of her throne and furiously jammed her hand into Corrin's chest, causing him to fall back into the stone momentarily glanced towards her with a raised eyebrow.

It hurt.

"Ow!" Corrin said, wincing as the back of his head cracked against the stone. "What was that for?"

"Don't try to pretend!" Azura snapped. "You dragged that out on purpose, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Corrin asked, getting to his feet. "Are you talking about me and Count Hansen?"

"Of course I am!" Azura said. "Did you _have_ to drag it out for so long? 'I'm looking forward to this.' Why else would you say that?"

"That's just a figure of speech to get the nobles to relax!" Corrin looked at her in confusion. "Azura, are you alright? You're never this—"

"I'm fine," Azura snapped, crossing her arms and turning away.

"Azura—"

"I said I'm fine!"

Corrin sighed. There was no getting through to her when she was this angry, even if her anger was somewhat unusual. He would just have to wait this out. It never failed before

"Fine," he sighed. "Fine. I'm…I'm going to eat lunch right now. Do you want to eat with me?"

"Yes," Azura said bluntly.

Without waiting for him, Azura briskly turned and walked towards the dining hall where they always shared their meals. Corrin blinked, flabbergasted. Something was definitely off with Azura today, but only time would reveal its cause.

Azura wrinkled her nose. "Is it just me, or does this sandwich smell really bad?"

Corrin paused mid-bite and looked at her curiously. Today was just full of unusual behavior, wasn't it? Fifteen minutes ago, Azura was snapping at him, but barely two minutes later, they were engaging in small talk like nothing had happened. Now Azura, the last person he would expect to be a picky eater, was being just that—a picky eater.

Deciding to humor her, Corrin set his food down and casually reached over to pluck a tomato out from between the bread. After exaggeratingly putting up to his nose and smelling it, Corrin shrugged and put it back on her plate.

"Smells normal to me," he said.

"Don't put it back in the sandwich!" Azura protested flinging the offending piece of fruit back onto his plate. "That's gross!"

"Grossness is a subjective concept," Corrin said nonchalantly. "What's gross for me might not be for you, and vice versa. Say, for instance, I had a sandwich—"

Corrin cut himself off as Azura threw him a dirty glare.

"Of course, it doesn't have to be a sandwich. I'm just using it as an example—"

Another glare.

Sighing in defeat, Corrin set his fork down and swapped their plates. "Better?"

Azura cautiously picked up a piece of lettuce with her fork and sniffed at it curiously before wrinkling her nose again and pushing away Corrin's plate.

"It smells even worse," she remarked flatly.

"Alright, then it's definitely you," he said, frowning. "I'm literally half-dragon, which means I should have a pretty good sense of smell, but I don't smell anything wrong with either of our plates."

"Well, _something's_ wrong," Azura said, crossing her arms. "If it's not me or the food, then there has to be something else."

"I'll see if I can find Flora or Jakob," Corrin offered helpfully. "Maybe they can bring you something that doesn't smell. Like strawberries!"

"That may help," Azura mused. "Also, how is it that strawberries have no natural scent of their own, but we still know something smells like a strawberry?"

"Don't ask me," Corrin asked as Jakob briskly trotted over. "I'm a philosopher and part-time king, not a biologist."

"You are _not_ a philosopher."

"Those who deem others unworthy of a role are also often unworthy themselves."

"That's not even philosophical! That's just some theme or moral you pulled out of some random story!"

As Azura watched Corrin talk animatedly with Jakob, she suddenly couldn't help but feel incredibly dizzy. Everything save for the table and the fork in front of her turned blurry, and before she knew it, Corrin was peering down at her, concern, fear, and above all else, confusion plastered over his pale face.

"Uh…Corrin? Why are you upside down?"

"You blacked out," he said simply, though judging by how his shoulders sagged, Azura could tell he was both incredibly relieved and angry at the same time. Whether he was angry at himself or at her, Azura couldn't tell.

"I asked you if you were okay, Azura!" he said angrily.

_Okay, so it's definitely me then._

"You could've told me that you weren't feeling well, and then I wouldn't have forced you to hold court with me, and—"

"I'm fine, Corrin," Azura said, sitting up. "Don't worry, it's been like this for a couple days now, and—"

Azura groaned as another wave of dizziness assailed her. At the same time, Azura almost thought Corrin was going to pop a blood vessel in his eye judging by how red his face suddenly turned.

"A couple _days_?" he asked. "You've been fainting like this for a couple _days?_ "

"No, today was my first time," Azura said as she sat up again. "But I have been feeling pretty dizzy."

"Why didn't you tell me? I would've called you a healer, or—"

"They're not going to see me just because of a little headache, Corrin."

"Of course they would!" Corrin said, exasperated. "You're the Queen! You're literally the most important person in this kingdom! Of course they would want to serve you to make sure you're okay!"

"Fine then," Azura said, her temper starting to rise up again. "How about _you_ call me a healer since you so _generously_ offered, and _you_ go back to dealing with those damned nobles!"

Both Corrin and Jakob, who was standing silently behind him, looked taken aback by her sudden outburst. Almost immediately, Azura felt a pang of guilt at their shocked expressions.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, shaking her head to fend off another wave of dizziness. "It's…been stressful these last few days, what with all the paperwork I had to do and my period starting up again. It's…it's a bit much, to say the least."

"And you said you preferred doing paperwork over holding court," Corrin said sarcastically.

"Well, someone has to do it," Azura said playfully. "If not me, who else?"

Again, both Corrin and Jakob looked taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor. The two men both turned to look at each other before turning back towards Azura.

"…right," Corrin said slowly. "Alright then. Uh, how about I cut our meeting with Count Hansen a little bit short so we can both see the healer together?"

"No, no," Azura said hurriedly. "I know how important this meeting is to the kingdom. I'll call the healer myself. You just finish up the meeting with Count Hansen and the rest of the nobles."

"I guess I'll just start tidying up the mess you two made, then," Jakob said smartly.

Azura and Corrin looked up. Azura's chair was tipped over and pieces of lettuce and bread were splattered all over the floor.

"Uh, yeah. You do that," Corrin said awkwardly. "Thanks, Jakob."

"No thanks are needed, milord. How else am I supposed to earn my keep?"

"You don't—" Corrin shook his head exasperatedly. "Nevermind."

Turning back towards Azura, he squeezed her hand worriedly. "Promise me you'll find someone to look at you."

Azura sighs affectionately. How could she ever say no such a dear, sweet, _exasperatingly protective_ man that was her husband?

"I promise."

* * *

"Vell, pazed on zee rezults, nozing seems to be vrong vith vu. Could pe schtress"

Azura shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, can you repeat that again?"

The healer—"I am ein doctor!"—a stern looking man with small, thin glasses, and black, short-cropped hair, looked sharply towards her over the rim of his glasses. "I zaid, zere vas nozing vrong vith vu!"

"I-I'm sorry, it's just really hard to understand you because of your accent and—"

"Oh, zo now vu vring up mein accent, huh? I could haffe—"

"Alright, Dr. Ludwig, let me take over from here," interrupted a young woman. As she hastily shoved the angry doctor away, the woman smiled apologetically towards Azura.

"Sorry about that," she said. "Dr. Ludwig once served on the front lines during The War, and he's…well, he's been a bit more temperamental ever since."

"His accent sounds familiar," Azura noted, rubbing her wrist. "Stutmany?"

"No, Teuton," the assistant corrected. "He…well, while he may not have as much compassion for the sick as other healers, or even the same level of respect for basic human dignity, Dr. Ludwig is one of the best around with it comes to diagnosing his patients. As for actually healing them…he was never particularly gifted at healing magic, which was why he hired me. Now, back on topic!"

The woman tapped her cheek while peering curiously at Azura. "Hmm, well, let's see. Constant dizziness. Cramps. Backpains. Headaches. Mood swings. There's only one thing that can cause all of these at the same time."

"What is it?" Azura asked.

"One question first," the woman said reassuringly. "Have you been bleeding yet?"

"No."

"But you've been feeling these cramps for…what, a week now?"

Azura nodded. "I've…I've been taking precautionary measures just in case, but there hasn't been any blood yet, which probably means I'm just having a lighter load this time around."

"Perhaps," mused the woman. "Or it could mean something else entirely. Female-exclusive, of course."

"What is it?"

To Azura's surprise, the woman simply smiled. "Is it not obvious? You're pregnant, milady."

Azura could've sworn the room was spinning around her as she gaped at the woman. Slowly, without realizing it, Azura rested her hand on top of her abdomen.

"…Pregnant?" she repeated slowly, as if each syllable was foreign to her. "M-me? I'm pregnant?"

The woman nodded. "Yep. You're pregnant, milady."

"B-but that's impossible!" Azura said. "Aren't you supposed to throw up when you're pregnant?"

"Most do," the woman admitted. "You're probably one of the luckier ones, though I'm afraid those headaches are going to stick with you all the way through."

"Miss Bauling?" The doctor peeked his head out from behind a door and seemed caught off-guard when Azura was still sitting on the bench.

"Ah, vu're schtill here, milady? Did I mistiagnoze vu zomehow?"

"Sort of, Dr. Ludwig," Miss Pauling said, rapping her clipboard with her knuckle. "You said everything could be because of stress brought on by her cycle and workload, but I think the answer is something else entirely: pregnancy."

"Ah, bregnancy? Congratulazions!" the doctor said earnestly. "Congratulazions indeed!"

"I don't…I don't…"

"She's still in shock," the assistant whispered to the doctor. "Hasn't fully wrapped her head around it yet."

"Vell, zere's always one," the doctor whispered back.

Kneeling down next to Azura, the doctor gently rested a hand on Azura's shoulder. "Alright, first zings off, zere's zome zings vu need to keep track of…"

Azura sits there, shocked into silence as the doctor lists off how far along she mostly likely is—"zix veeks!"—what activities to avoid at all cost—"no heaffy lifting, horzepack riding, or bhyzically hurding yourself"—and what foods to avoid eating.

"No raw meats!" the doctor proclaimed. "I know how much vu Hoschitans loffe your raw fisch und...zuschi—is zat how vu zay it?—put for zee pabe's zake, I vould hadffize hakainst zuch ein diet."

"He's saying no raw meats, which means no sushi," the woman explained. "Don't worry though—you can still have sex, if that's important to you!"

Before Azura knew it, the doctor was pushing an elixir into her hand to help with the headaches and dizziness, another drought to help deal with morning sickness, just in case, and a slip of paper containing their office address and names.

"I'm afraid you're on your own with the mood swings, though," the woman said apologetically as they helped Azura to her feet. "We simply just don't know enough about how a woman's body changes chemically for us to make a drought for that, and even then, every pregnancy is different. What works for you may not work for someone else, and most people aren't exactly willing to ingest something that even the healers don't know would do."

"O-oh, um, okay," Azura stammered out.

And so, fifteen minutes later, Azura found herself standing outside in the hallway, arms full of elixirs, droughts, books, and gods knows what else. Slowly, ever so slowly, Azura rested her free hand on her stomach again.

"I'm…pregnant?"


	2. The Escape

Out of all the things she's ever done in the name of royalty, helping Lady Azura sneak out of the castle to see her sister was definitely one of the more tamer tales. As for what happened afterward? Not so much. It all started with a simple, unassuming knock on the door to the servants' quarters she and Jakob shared.

When Flora walked over to open the door, she was pleasantly surprised to see Lady Azura, of all people, standing on the other side. To her concern, the normally composed blunette looked out of breath and awfully pale, even by Flora's standards.

"Oh, Lady Azura!" Flora said, hurriedly moving to help Azura with the box of draughts and elixirs in her hands. "What brings you here? You didn't need to come down to the servants' quarters to find me or Jakob, you know. You could've—"

Azura interrupted Flora by clutching her hand and squeezing it. "I need you to take me to Felicia."

Flora blinked, caught off-guard by the sudden request. "To…Felicia?" she asked questioningly. "Um, is something the matter?"

Azura nodded and squeezed her hand again. "I need to talk to her, but nobody can know that I'm visiting her."

"What about the king?" Flora asked. "Surely, he should—"

" _Especially_ him!" Azura blurted out. "S-sorry, but Corrin can't know. Please, Felici—er, Flora. You have to help me!"

"Alright then," Flora said, pursing her lips and nodding. "I'll help you. Go out into the hallway, and—"

"No, no," Azura interrupted. "I would like it if you could take me to Felicia, personally."

"Of course," Flora said. "Just allow me to gather a few things."

Azura watched in confusion as the blue-haired maid bustled around the room, gathering things here and there. When Flora opened up her wardrobe and shoved one of her uniforms into Azura's arms, Azura looked at her in confusion.

"What is this for?" she asked, curiously running a finger over the fabric.

"It's a disguise!" Flora said, smiling. "No offense, milady, but you are one of the most recognizable people in this city, what with your hair and…choice of clothes."

"What's wrong with my dress?" Azura asked, looking down at herself. "I like it!"

"I like it too, but if we're going to sneak you past all the servants that's bound to litter the halls, then you'll have to do more than put your hair up and hope for the best," Flora said. "Just trust me, the uniform's not that bad!"

"If you say so," Azura said hesitatingly as she stepped behind a changing curtain.

While Azura changed out of her white dress, Flora curiously peered in the box she had been carrying. Her eyes widened as she read the label on one of the bottles, and as Azura walked out from behind the changing curtain, Flora tried to hide her surprise, to no avail.

As soon as Azura saw the questioning, wide-eyed look Flora gave her as she stepped away from the box, she blushed and looked down at the ground. "I-it's not what it looks like!" she stammered. "I-it's just that I've been having these headaches, and—"

"It's alright," Flora said warmly and she patted Azura's hand. "Say no more. I understand. I'll take you to Felicia right now, okay?"

Azura could nothing but nod her head as the other woman took her hand to lead her out into the hallway. As they turned the corner, Flora handed Azura an odd-looking headpiece.

"Here, take this," she said, peeking around the corner to make sure nobody was about to sneak upon them.

"What is it?" Azura asked. "Some sort of headband?"

"Sort of," Flora admitted. "It's meant to help keep your hair behind your back. That's why even though both Felicia and I have really long hair, it never gets in the way, even when we bend down."

"That's…useful," Azura noted as she placed the headband on her head. "Would've helped me with waking up."

"It's not the greatest thing in the world," Flora admitted as she helped adjust the headband. "After a while, you start to feel the hair strands being ripped out of your head, which is why I try to avoid wearing it as much as possible."

As soon as the headband was positioned comfortably atop of Azura's head, Flora took Azura's hand again and lead her down the hallway. As they walked, they passed a trio of servants, all of whom gave polite nods towards Azura and Flora.

"Evenin' Flora," one of them greeted.

"Good evening, Dyn," Flora replied, though without slowing her pace.

"You're in a rush," Dyn noted as Flora pushed past them. "Who's the new girl?"

Flora slowed momentarily. "She's a new hire. I'm…I'm just showing her around. Nothing big."

"I don't know," said another one of the servants as he leaned against the wall, effectively blocking Azura and Flora's way. "She's sort of looks familiar…cousin of yours?"

"No," Flora said bluntly, trying to step around the servant. "We just happen to have similarly colored hair."

"How often do you see someone with blue hair, huh?" the third servant said. "Thought you could only have it if you were from the ice tribe or if you were part of the Vallite royal family."

"Come on, Jarren," Flora said, exasperated. "I need to take her somewhere right now. We can't afford to waste any more time."

"Why not?" the second servant said. "I thought today was your day off? Why don't you let me show her around? Maybe this time, I'll strike rich!"

Flora froze. "What…did you just say?"

Azura tried to stop herself, but because of her heels, she was unable to stop herself from stumbling. As she fell, the second servant managed to catch her by the arm.

"Whoa there!" he said, "don't you go tripping…huh, that's odd."

"What's wrong?" Flora asked as Azura yanked her arm away. As soon as Azura regained her balance, the maid tried to pull her away, but the second servant seemed to refuse to let Azura and Flora pass.

"You're pretty muscular, you know that?" the servant said jeeringly, waggling a finger in Azura's face. "I like that in a woman, y'know. You got some legs too, you know that?"

Dyn facepalmed. "I swear to god, Mando, if you say 'you know that' one more time, I'm going to sneak a spider into your soup tonight."

"Alright, I think that's enough of that," Flora said. "You're making her feel uncomfortable."

"Why don't she tell us herself?" Jarren said, taking Azura's arm. "C'mon, we're not _that_ scary, are we?"

"Um…"

"Alright guys, cool it, will you?" Dyn suddenly interrupted. "Flora's right. You're freaking her out, and quite frankly, you're freaking me out. Mando, you should know better than to hit on women while you're working! Jarren, drop the tough guy act, alright? You're not fooling anybody."

As if they had been awakened from some sort of trance, the two other servants suddenly flinched and stood up straight.

"Oh, um, yeah," Jarren said, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that…what was your name again?"

"Aqua," Flora said definitively. "Her name's Aqua."

"Oh, okay," Jarren said, blinking in surprise. "Sorry about that, Aqua. Me and Mando…well, we're desperate, you feel me? It's been a while since we saw a woman as attractive you if you don't mind me saying so."

"Um, I-I don't mind," Azura squeaked timidly.

Dyn nudged Mando with the tip of his boot. "And what about you, Mando?" he asked, "What do you have to say to our brand new hire?"

"…Sorry," Mando mumbled under his breath.

As Dyn took a breath to launch into what looked like another tirade, Flora interrupted by taking Azura by the shoulders and steering her away. "Apology accepted!" she said over her shoulder. "I'll see the three of you later!"

Dyn blinked and shook his head in surprise as Flora pushed Azura around the corner. "Oh, um, alright then, Flora. We'll…see you later."

As they turned the corner, Azura glanced back at the three men. While Dyn was busy chewing out Jarren, only Mando continued to stare at her, his gaze burning a hole into Azura's skin. For a split moment, Azura could've sworn his eyes flashed red, but just as quickly as it had appeared, the light disappeared and the only thing Azura saw was the wall of stone in front of her as she and Flora turned the corner.

"Sorry about that, milady," Flora said apologetically. "Dyn, Jarren, and Mando are some of the finest servants you'll find this side of the land, but they can be a bit…off sometimes."

"I saw," Azura said. "Are they normally that…desperate?"

"No, that was the first time they actively tried to go after someone during a shift," Flora explained patiently. "Dyn is the most well-behaved out of them, and even Jarren's got a warning once or twice, most of the time it was just a joke that went too far. Mando though…"

"He sort of scares me," Azura admitted.

Flora laughed softly. "He scares me too, don't worry," she said reassuringly. "I'll talk to Jakob later and make sure he gets a verbal warning. He's usually never that forward, but then again, he doesn't usually get to see the queen of Valla in a maid's outfit."

"New Valla," Azura corrected automatically. "And I guess you were right about these uniforms. The skirt is a bit restrictive, yet somehow…lacking."

"Well, now you know why us maids always walk around like we're about to flash a part of ourselves," Flora said affably, "It's because, most of the time, we are! It's just something we get used to."

Azura laughed half-heartedly at Flora's reassurance, but she still couldn't shake the unease she felt when Mando stared at her. And what was up with that flash of red light in his eyes? Was that just a trick of the light, a result of the torches on the wall flickering in just the right way, or was it something else entirely?

Whatever else Azura was thinking was suddenly interrupted as Flora stopped in front of a wall.

"This is it," she said, gesturing to the stone wall.

Azura looked around in confusion. "This is what?" she asked.

The wall looked like every other wall in the servants' hallway. Gray cobblestone. A crack here, and missing chunk there. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary or misplaced.

"What is it?" Azura asked, looking back at Flora. "Is there supposed to be a secret switch or something that opens a door up somewhere in the castle?"

"Close," Flora admitted as she ran her hands over the wall, looking for something. "It should be right…here! Got it!"

As Flora pushed down on a stone that looked the same as every other stone on the wall, Azura heard a small click, and suddenly, without making any sound, the wall before them swung outward to reveal a bedroom with Felicia and Silas together in bed.

Felicia yelped as she turned to see Azura and Flora in the sudden portal, causing Silas to jump out of bed and blindly reach for his sword. At the same time, Azura averted her eyes (just in case) as Flora confidently strode forward.

Silas (who was wearing pants, thankfully) lowered his sword and tilted his head, confused. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked. "How did—"

"It's a servant's secret, dear," Felicia said as she hopped out of bed to stand next to her husband. "We use them to move around the castle without being seen. That's why messes are always cleaned up even though you don't see anybody going to clean it."

"Were we interrupting something?" Flora asked teasingly as she gave Felicia and Silas a quick hug.

"Oh, no, nothing at all!" Silas said, rubbing the back of his head. "Felicia was just reading her book, and I was…"

"He was preparing for bed," Felicia said, nodding fervently. "Yes, he was preparing for bed."

"It's barely five in the afternoon," Flora said flatly.

"Well, you know the saying," Silas said, flashing her one of his trademark smiles. "Early to bed, early to rise!"

"Papa?" a soft voice said. "Mama?"

Silas and Felicia both turned simultaneously to see their daughter peeking in through a crack in the door.

"Papa? Mama?" the child said again, sleepily rubbing their eyes with the balls of their fist. "Wha hap'n?"

"Oh, nothing happened, sweetie," Felicia cooed as she stooped over to pick her up. "Papa and Mama just got surprised by Auntie Flora and Auntie Azura! Say hi to Auntie Flora and Auntie Azura, Sophie! Say hi!" Felicia took one of Sophie's hands and moved it so she was "waving" at them.

"Awntee Fwowa," Sophie said, pointing to Azura. "Awntee Zuzu."

"Not quite, kiddo," Silas said as he tostled her pink hair. Pointing at Flora, he said, "That's Auntie _Flora_ , kiddo. Can you say 'hi Auntie Flora?'"

"Awntee Zuzu."

Felicia laughed softly as she cradled Sophie's head against her chest. "Please excuse us, Lady Azura," she said. "Little Sophie here is a bit…"

"Slow?" Silas offered.

Felicia glared at him as she kicked his leg. "No! She is _not_ slow! She…just has trouble differentiating people with similar colored hair!"

"Fair enough," Silas said as he rubbed noses with Sophie. The child burbled happily. "I'm sowwy about that, honey. Daddy's just kidding, right, Mama?" He gave Felicia a hopeful grin.

Felicia simply rolled her eyes and shook her head exasperatedly. Upon noticing how both Azura and Flora were still standing there, watching them, Felicia cleared her throat and shifted Sophie so that she was in a more comfortable position.

"Oh, um, sorry about that Lady Azura," Felicia said apologetically. "Let me put Sophie to bed first, and then you can talk with Silas and me."

"Um, actually, I-I need to talk to you, Felicia," Azura said, shyly waving at Sophie and Silas. "Hi, Silas. Hi Sophie. Sorry about barging in like this."

"Oh, it's no problem," Silas said, walking over to Felicia and taking Sophie. "Here, I'll take the kid. You and Azura can talk it out. I'll be in the living room."

As Silas closed the door behind him, Felicia sighed and sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to her for Azura and Flora to sit. "We weren't expecting any visitors today," she said, "Least of all through the servant's tunnel."

"You have a living room?" Azura asked. "I didn't know the castle was big enough for two suites."

Felicia looked confused. "The castle?" she asked. Then, upon realizing what Azura meant, she laughed softly. "Oh no, we don't live in the castle. Silas and I live in the castle town. See?"

Felicia gestured to the window, and as Azura looked outside, she saw that the salmon-haired woman was speaking the truth. Outside, Azura could see the marketplace and the bobbing pinpricks of light that marked a patrolling guard.

"When did you move out here?" Azura asked. "How did I never notice?"

"Oh, a couple of months ago," Felicia said. "Don't worry if you didn't notice. Corrin didn't either, at least, until Silas told him that he had to take a few days off to take care of the baby."

"How old is she now?" Azura asked. "She looks so much bigger than the last time I saw her."

"Oh, she's about a year old," Felicia answered casually. "Give or take a few months. She certainly takes after her father, though I do admit."

"I could tell," Flora joked. "How else does she look so pretty?"

Felicia gasped as she smacked her sister on the arm. "How could you? We're twins, you know. If I'm ugly, then what went wrong with you?"

Azura couldn't stop herself from laughing. In response, Flora playfully shoved her sister using her shoulder. "I should be the one asking that question. I was always the prettier one."

"Only because you had blue hair," Felicia pouted. "Father always went on and on about how difficult it was to find a suitable match for you since so many people in the ice tribe were in line."

"That is _not_ true!" Flora protested. "He only said that because at the time, he didn't know that Jakob and I were courting!"

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Flora."

The two sisters went on like for a few minutes, whereupon Flora suddenly gasped and turned towards Azura, who was smiling and sitting patiently.

"Oh gods! I'm _so_ sorry, milady," Flora apologized, bowing her head, "I didn't mean to drag this out."

"It's alright," Azura said, smiling back. "It's…nice to see you two like this."

Felicia frowned as she peered over her sister's shoulder. "I've been meaning to ask, Azura, why are you dressed in one of the maid's outfits again? Not saying it doesn't look good on you, but I never thought you would be the one to wear something so…so…"

"So scandalous?" Flora offered.

"No, no," Felicia mused, "That's too strong of a word…unbefitting would be a better fit. Funny, right?"

Azura laughed softly at Felicia's pun, despite Flora's ill-hidden eyeroll. "Flora wanted me to put it on so she could have an easier time sneaking me out of the castle," she explained. "I wasn't planning on wearing it at first, but Flora said that it would probably be for the better in case we happen to run into any servants."

"Why are you trying to sneak out of the castle?" Felicia asked, tilting her head. "You're the queen, aren't you? Just tell the guards you want to visit me or something, and then you can come out here without dressing up as a maid."

Flora and Azura both glanced at each other.

"It's…a bit of a special occasion," Flora said vaguely.

"You see, I'm supposed to be in a meeting with Corrin right now," Azura guiltily admitted. "But during lunch, I sort of…fainted?"

"Sort of?" Felicia asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean sort of? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine for now, but Corrin made me go to the healer's office," Azura replied. "And…and…"

"And what?" Felicia said. "Come on, Azura, spit it out."

Azura couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hands as she forced out the words, "I'm…I'm pregnant."

Both Flora and Felicia stared at her, jaws agape. Azura felt her face turn red as she buried her face in her hands. For a moment, both Flora and Felicia were stunned into shocked silence, but after a few seconds, both Flora and Felicia began to squeal with delight, Felicia more than Flora.

"Oh my gods!" Felicia said, giving Azura a tight hug. "Really? The healer said that you're pregnant?"

"Sh! Not so loud," Flora scolded as she looked around the room. "The reason she came here was to seek out advice, not to have you blurt it out to the whole world."

"Right, right," Felicia said, composing herself, though she still bubbled with excitement. "Sorry…but I'm just _so_ excited! When did you find out? How far along are you? Did you and Corrin plan a name yet?"

"Uh…that's the thing," Azura said, "Corrin…doesn't know."

"He doesn't?" Felicia asked, flabbergasted. "B-but I thought you two would always share your secrets with each other!"

"I know, I know," Azura said, looking down at her hands in shame. "I know I promised him that there would be no more secrets between us, but…he's so stressed right now, what with the economy failing and everything else that has been going on. I don't want to tell him things that could stress him out even more."

"Why would finding out that you're pregnant stress him out?" Felicia asked. "Well, I get what you mean—finding out your wife is growing a human inside her is kind of a big deal, but it's stressful as in all of a sudden, you have to worry about two people instead of one. If you're worried about Corrin being upset or whatever, don't be. I remember when Silas found out. He immediately hosted a party. You and Corrin were there, remember?"

"I remember," Azura said, nodding. "But…I don't know, Felicia. This is all so… _new_ to me. I don't know how to process all of this information at once."

"Hey," Felicia said warmly, taking Azura by the shoulder and pulling her into a hug. "I know it can be a lot to take in at once. I had trouble with it too, but so long as Corrin knows about the pregnancy before you start showing, you shouldn't have to worry about him getting upset that you're with child. And let's be honest, I think we both know that Corrin is going to be _ecstatic_ upon learning the fact that he's having a _kid_. You know how amazing it is to have one of those?"

"But isn't pregnancy really difficult to deal with?" Azura asked timidly. "I heard talk about how one of the maids got pregnant and the things she had to go through just to keep working."

"I remember that," Felicia said, looking up at the ceiling. "Kara always did take work too seriously, but that's not the point here. The point is, if you're worried about burdening Corrin with news of your pregnancy, don't be. If anything, finding out that he's going to be a dad is going to help him! I remember when I told Silas. He just found out one of his favorite horses from the war died, but when I told him that I was pregnant, oh _boy_ did that cheer him up."

"Well, having your horse die is, in my opinion, a little less stressful than running a kingdom and finding out that said kingdom may economically collapse in a few weeks," Azura said sarcastically.

"Oh, he'll figure something out," Felicia said dismissively. "It may not be easy, but Corrin will find a way to fix the situation. He always does. So long as you give him the necessary… _support,_ he should pull through."

"I don't know…" Azura said, looking down and resting a hand on her belly. "What if Corrin didn't want a child? What if he wanted to wait until we were both older? He's almost twenty-six, and I'm barely older than that. What if—"

"Hey, don't say things like that," Felicia said, crouching down in front of Azura and gently taking her hands. "I know you're worried about what might happen—I know I was when I first found out—but if you let people help you, it makes everything so much easier."

"But—"

"No buts," Felicia interrupted, squeezing her hand. "Just tell Corrin the truth, and everything will go over smoothly. Trust me."

"A-alright," Azura finally said, sighing. "If you say so."

"What about you, Flora?" Felicia asked, turning to address her sister. "Anything new you want to tell me?"

"Not really," Flora admitted, pressing down the front of her skirt as she stood up. "A couple of servants gave me and Azura some trouble, but nothing came out of it."

Felicia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Let me guess, Mando and Jarren?"

"Yes, but—" Flora blinked and looked at Felicia in surprise. "How do you know?"

Felicia scowled. "Mando constantly manages to find a way to flirt with me," she said, shaking her head. "Jarren does so too, but at least the pick-up lines he uses are somewhat decent and thoughtful. Mando just goes up and talks about my legs and chest or whatever. It's honestly kind of annoying and creepy."

"Does Silas know?" Azura asked, concerned.

"Of course he does," Felicia said, sighing. "Silas talked to him a couple times, and I'm pretty sure he threatened him with a fork at some point, but so far, the only lesson he seemed to learn was to avoid flirting with a woman in front of her husband."

"I'll talk with Jakob, then," Flora said, pursing her lips. "He hasn't said anything of the sort to me, personally, yet, but he did seem interested in you, milady." She nodded towards Azura, who simply shrugged.

"It's alright," she said modestly. "I'm used to it."

"Honestly, I thought having them share a shift with Dyn, one of the most professional and respectful servants would do something to change their behavior," Flora mused. "But it seems like I was mistaken."

"I think we all were," Felicia said, frowning. "We really need to be careful of the people we hire nowadays, especially with a little one growing in here." She playfully patted Azura's belly.

"Speaking of which, how far along are you?" Felicia asked. "You don't seem to be showing a lot."

"Uh, Dr. Ludwig said I'm about six weeks in," Azura said, smiling despite the familiar feeling of her face turning red.

"That seems pretty spot-on," Felicia mused. "Just make sure you tell Corrin sometime soon, or else even he's going to start noticing the bulge."

Azura opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, a quiet knock at the door interrupted her. As one, the three women turned towards the door to see Silas peeking his head again.

"Sorry," he whispered. "Kid was getting really fussy. She really wants you, Felicia."

Felicia sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" she said quietly. Giving Azura and Flora an apologetic look, she stood up and gently took the fidgeting child from Silas' arms.

"Don't worry, don't worry," Felicia cooed. "Mama's here. Mama's here."

As Azura watched Felicia bounce Sophie up and down, Azura couldn't help but rest her own hand on top of her belly and look down at it. Could she really do the same things Felicia was doing?

For a moment, Azura imagined herself in Felicia's place, only instead of holding Sophie, she was holding a bundle with a tuft of blue or white hair sticking out of the blankets. For a split second, Azura felt the tiniest of smiles working its way across her face.

Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. All she had to do was tell Corrin, and—

"Wait."

The sudden seriousness of Silas' tone caused Azura to look up, shattering her little daydream. Felicia and Flora both gave Silas a curious look as he pointed to the hidden door where Flora and Azura had entered from.

"Has that thing been open the whole time?" he asked.

"What thing?" Flora asked. "The door?"

Silas nodded. "I thought you closed the door behind you when you came in?"

"I…thought I did," Flora said, confused. "That's odd. Why is it still open?"

Silas and Felicia both shared a glance.

"Honey, get Sophie out of here," he said, his normal, cheerful tone replaced with a seriousness as hard as any stone. "Azura, get behind Flora."

"What's going on?" Felicia asked as Silas hurriedly ushered her out of the room. "What—"

Whatever else the salmon-haired maid was trying to say was lost as Silas forced the door shut behind her. Then, moving slowly to avoid making noise, he suddenly dropped to one knee and tried to reach for something under the bed.

"Show yourself!" Silas suddenly proclaimed, standing up straight and pointing a sword that he pulled from under the bed. "That's not a request!"

Both Flora and Azura stared at the open portal with confusion.

"Silas?" Azura asked quietly. "Are you sure that—"

Suddenly, Silas darted forward, his blade flashing as he stabbed it into the doorway. At the same time, a smaller flash gleamed in the torchlight as what appeared to be a dagger parried the blow. At the same time, a splash of red appeared, and a muffled cry rang out.

"Stand down!" Silas shouted. "Surrender now, and I'll make this quick!"

Before any of them could react, a figure darted out from behind a side of the wall and proceeded to sprint the other way, where Azura and Flora had come from. Silas roughly brushed past Flora and Azura as he grabbed a candle and ran into the tunnel, lifting the flame up to see better.

After standing stock still for a few moments, Silas shook his head and scowled. Azura curiously peeked out from behind Flora's shoulder. The maid had managed to procure a dagger from somewhere within the folds of her dress and was holding it in a grip so tight, her knuckles turned white.

Silas sighed and sheathed his sword as he replaced the candle. "Damn," he cursed. "He managed to escape."

"Who was that?" Flora asked, slowly lowering her dagger.

"I don't know," Silas said, roughly shoving the hidden door closed. "They were too fast. Was able to tell they were male, though, judging by the voice."

Felicia cautiously peeked into the room. "Is everything okay, Silas? I put Sophie to bed, and—"

"Felicia, take Azura and Flora back to the castle," Silas said, his cheerful demeanor vanishing. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to make a report to the king about this."

"No!" Azura blurted. "Please don't!"

Flora, Felicia, and Silas looked at her in surprise.

"Why not?" Silas asked. "Azura, don't you understand? If that was an assassin, you could have—"

"I know!" Azura snapped. "Just listen to me!"

Silas blinked in surprise as Flora and Felicia looked at each other nervously.

"I've…been talking with Flora and Felicia recently, and the reason I came here using the tunnels was so I could avoid having Corrin find out about…this. " Azura gestured to everything around her in general, "He can't find out about my sneaking out. So please, Silas. Don't tell Corrin."

Silas looked at Azura with something close to bafflement. "I-I'm sorry, milady, but—"

"Just listen to her, Silas," Felicia said, walking up behind her husband and taking his arm. "Just trust me."

"But Felicia, as—"

"Silas."

"You—"

"Silas."

"I—"

" _Silas._ "

The green-haired retainer sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Alright, fine," he said, frowning. "But all I'm saying is that—"

"No, Silas."

Silas sighed again. "Fine, fine. I won't tell Corrin, happy?"

"Promise me," Azura said, stepping forward and placing a hand on her chest. "I know he's your best friend, but please, for my sake, don't tell him."

"Fine, alright," Silas said. "I won't tell him."

"Good."

Satisfied, Azura stepped back and looked at Flora. "We should probably return to the castle," she said.

"Not through the servant's tunnel, you're not," Silas said, crossing his arms. "You're heading back to the castle the old-fashioned way."

"Sneaking in?" Flora asked.

"Using a wind spell and dropping out of the sky into the castle courtyard?" Felicia said at the same time.

"That…last one is too specific for my liking," Silas said. "But anyway, I want you to return to the castle immediately, Azura. No dillydallying, no sightseeing, no nothing. As soon as you get back to the castle, you tell the castle guards to be on the lookout for any suspicious-looking people. It's been seven years since a royal died on my watch, and I really don't want to reset that counter."

"Wait, who was the royal?" Felicia asked.

"Garon," Silas said nonchalantly. "But that's not important. Azura. Flora. Out."

"Alright, alright, we'll head back," Flora said exasperatedly. "Who the self-proclaimed 'Easy-going and Relaxed Knight,' could be so protective?"

Silas scowled. "I'm only easy-going and relaxed when there's nobody trying to sneak up on the people I'm supposed to protect," he retorted.

"Easy, Silas," Felicia, said, patting her husband's arm. "Also, Azura?"

The blunette turned around.

"Eh…I'll lend you one of my dresses. You stand out. A lot."


	3. The Return

To Azura surprise and Flora's pleasure, "sneaking" Azura back into the castle was incredibly easy. After changing out of Flora's maid outfit into one of Felicia's, the two women had simply walked up to the main gate, asked to be let in, and as soon as the guards recognized the two, had opened the gate for them.

"Oh, you don't need to walk me back to the servants' quarters," Flora said upon noticing Azura following her. "You just go find Corrin and tell him the good news."

"I…um, I still need to get the box of supplies the healer gave me," Azura said, clasping her hands together.

"Oh, you don't need to do that!" Flora said. "I can just have one of the servants bring it up to you."

"I…would really prefer it if I got it myself," Azura said. "I don't want anybody else finding out about my…my _condition_."

"What about your condition?" a new voice.

Flora and Azura both turned around to see Jakob slyly stepping around the corner, a familiar-looking box in hand. As Jakob approached them, Flora couldn't help but smile at her husband's subtle smile.

"I believe this is yours, Lady Azura?" Jakob asked as he presented the box of supplies to Azura. "I admit, I may have spotted a few labels here and there, and all I have to say to you is _congratulations_."

"Well, so much for keeping anybody else from finding out," Azura said sardonically, gratefully taking the box from Jakob's arms. "Does anybody else know?"

"Not to my knowledge," Jakob said, though his jaw hardened. "But I _did_ manage to catch a couple of troublemakers. They looked suspiciously out of breath and I heard one of them mention your name, so I thought it would be fit to bring them before you."

Jakob snapped his fingers and a pair of guards and their respective prisoners slinked around the corner Jakob had come from. As Azura and Flora looked at the two gagged men, they realized that it was the two servants previously harassing Azura in the servant's passageway.

"Oh, it's you two," Flora said, crossing her arms and shooting them a glare. "How'd you two end up here?"

One of them, Jarren, Azura thought, shot his fellow servant a dirty look. "Ask him," he drawled. " _He's_ the one who thought it was a good idea to follow you two down the tunnel. I told him not to, that we would get in trouble, but he was absolutely _dying_ to follow the girl with blue hair."

"I hope you know that the 'girl with blue hair' also happened to be our Queen, Jarren," Jakob said, unimpressed.

"How was I supposed to know?" Mando mumbled, his head drooped. "She was wearing a different dress, so I didn't realize that it was her."

Flora looked utterly confused. "How can you—She's—Her dress doesn't—"

"It's alright," Azura said, resting a hand on Flora's arm. "He's…not the first one to think I'm a different person because of a change in attire."

"That still doesn't excuse the fact that he was harassing you, eavesdropping, and intruding on someone else's property," Jakob butted in. "Their punishment is up to you, should you deign to keep this matter a secret, but if you do not choose a punishment, I am duty-bound to haul them straight to Lord Corrin and have _him_ decide."

"No, no," Azura said, holding up her hand. "There's no need for that. Just…I don't know, throw them in a dungeon for a week or something?"

"A week?" Flora asked. "Milady, I understand that Corrin's normally the one who hands out punishments and all that, but any kind of threat or misdemeanor against the throne is—"

"It was just an honest mistake," Azura countered, giving the two bound men a glance. "So long as they learn their lesson about how to behave around others, there's no need to execute them."

"Still," Jakob interjected. "In my opinion, a week of imprisonment is far too light a punishment. Try…a month."

"That sounds good," Azura conceded shooting the two men an apologetic look. "Just make sure you put them where they can tell no one of this."

Jakob nodded. "Take them away," he ordered the two guards. "And remember, keep this all under wraps. Tell no one of this."

The two guards bowed and respectfully twisted their hands over their chest in a respectful gesture before hauling the two men away. As they disappeared behind a corner, Mando shot Azura a dirty glare, his eyes flashing red once again.

Instantly, Azura felt weak on her feet as a splitting headache assaulted her head. She staggered around incoherently before grabbing onto Flora's arm for balance. The maid shot her a concerned look as Jakob took a step towards her before pausing with his arms outstretched, as if he was uncertain as to continue stepping forward.

"Are you alright, milady?" Flora asked, concern creeping into her voice. "Should I call the healer?"

"N-no, it's fine," Azura said shakily as the pain faded from her head. "Just a minor headache."

"Sure didn't seem minor," Jakob snorted.

"It's probably because of the pregnancy," Flora said, shooting Jakob a glare dangerous enough to make even the butler clasp his hands together nervously. "Remember, Jakob. Tell _no one_."

"O-of course, Flora."

" _Especially_ Lord Corrin."

"Yes, of course, Flora."

"And don't forget to be just a _bit_ more sympathetic around Lady Azura, would you? She _is_ going to be a mother soon."

"Y-yes, Flora."

Azura looked between the two, unable to hide her simpering behind a hand. It never failed to amuse her that Jakob, possibly the least empathetic or sensitive person could be forced to obey commands uttered by Flora. It certainly didn't help that the temperature around them dropped noticeably.

Turning back to Azura, Flora smoothened out the front of her skirt and smiled pleasantly, a stark contrast to the chilly power Azura knew lay she possessed. "Now, shall I escort you to your quarters, milady?"

"Y-yes please. Thank you."


	4. The Talk

Corrin slowly pushed open the door to his and Azura's room. It was close to sunset, and through the windows that pierced the wall to his right, he could see the sun starting to kiss the horizon. Occasionally, the streaks of sunlight would flash themselves into his eyes and Corrin would inevitably sigh and cover his eyes as he blinked the spots away.

It had been a long day and he was tired, even more so than usual. Count Hansen had been…somewhat irritable after lunch, especially after discovering that Azura would be unable to attend the later part of their meeting. After what felt like an eternity of coaxing, subtle threats, and exasperated sighs, they had finally come to a workable contract.

The count had agreed to let the kingdom make use of three of his mines, though with a hefty price. As a show of (somewhat) good faith, Corrin had agreed to Count Hansen's demands that he himself would be the one in charge of how the resources from the mine were directed, at least for six months, though only with the city's interest in mind. Once that contract expired, the city would have free reign to use those three mines, although the Count would receive a _measly_ portion of each cart of gold they hauled, maybe only a few dozen coins worth or so. A few dozen coins wouldn't add up to anything, but the longer the city needed those mines, the more money they would lose to Count Hansen.

Overall, it was a sloppy solution to a sloppy situation. Corrin knew he could have handled it better, but with Count Hansen threatening to withdraw his conditions and flat-out refuse the city access to his mines, Corrin had no choice but to accept his terms.

Even as Corrin walked into his room, unclasping his cape and tossing it tiredly around the chair, he couldn't help but scowl, annoyed by today's turnout. If only Azura had been there! Count Hansen looked like he was about to have an ulcer when he discovered Azura was to be absent for the rest of the meeting.

Corrin himself almost had an ulcer when the noble subtly slandered _his_ wife's name, and it was only through clenching the dragonstone around his neck that he was able to stop himself from having him dragged off to the dungeons for slander against the throne. Such an action, though satisfying in the short-term, would bring nothing but trouble in the future, and so Corrin settled for admonishing the Count for being so insensitive towards a woman's "bodily functions _."_

If only he knew how close to the truth he was…

* * *

Azura looked up when she heard a groan on the other side of the door. Corrin tiredly pushed open the door and tossed his cape over a nearby chair as he groaned and flopped onto the bed next to where Azura was sitting.

"Good afternoon, love," Azura said affectionately as she laced her fingers through her husband's white hair. "How went the rest of the meeting?"

"Terrible," Corrin groaned, his voice muffled by the blanket. "He would just go _on_ and _on_ about how terrible a queen you were, how disorganized everything was around her, those sorts of things. If anything existed and wasn't bolted down properly, he probably had something to say about it."

"Well, you were the one who said he could be a bit full of himself," Azura mused, twirling a lock of his hair around her finger. "How about the contract itself? Did that go through as planned?"

"More or less," Corrin said, ever the optimist even when he drew the short stick. "In all honesty, we're lucky Count Hansen wasn't any greedier. He just wanted to direct the mine's resources for a year, and I made him agree he would only use those resources if it benefited the city, not just himself."

"That's…better than nothing," Azura noted.

"He also wanted at least a dozen gold coins or so from every batch we produce," Corrin said, rolling over on his back. "A dozen doesn't sound like a lot…"

"But like a crack in a dam, everything builds up," Azura finished, interlocking her fingers and looking straight ahead. "Do you think he would have been more lenient if I were there?"

"Probably," Corrin admitted before sitting up. "Speaking of which, where were you? A couple of servants said that they saw you walking in through the main entrance as if you left and came back."

Azura froze. "I…I went to see Felicia," she said cautiously, as to avoid spoiling her secret. "T-to talk to her about my…condition."

"Alone?" Corrin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I…asked Flora to take me to her using the servants' tunnels."

"Huh." Corrin shrugged and closed his eyes. "Okay, go on. What did Felicia say about you? Are you still alright?"

"Y-yes, in a way," Azura said, catching herself. "She said that…I'm…"

"That you're…?" Corrin pressed.

"That I'm just having a pretty bad monthly!" Azura said, perking up. "Yeah, that's it. She said my monthly was just hitting me harder than usual, explaining why I feel so tired and stuff."

_And stuff? Azura never used that kind of language before, not unless she was hiding something…_

"Oh really?" Corrin asked, still not opening his eyes, instead electing to put his hands behind his head. "I thought yours passed a week ago?"

"Two weeks," Azura corrected automatically, before catching herself and saying, "N-no, wait, you're right. One week. You know how unpredictable a woman's body can be, Corrin. Even _we_ don't know what's going on half the time."

"Uh-huh." Corrin cracked an eye open and glanced at her out the corner of his eye. "Are you lying to me, Azura?"

"No," Azura said steadfastly, maintaining eye contact. "I'm…just not telling you everything."

"And why aren't you telling me everything?"

"Because…it's really personal and I don't feel comfortable talking with it with anyone, even you?" Azura offered hopefully.

"…fair enough," Corrin conceded as he opened his eyes and sat up. "So long as you're alright, I'm happy. Just make sure you don't push yourself too hard."

Then, resting a hand on Azura's thigh and the other hand on her back, he asked mischievously, "Anyways, speaking of pushing yourself, are you down to…take a nap? I've been feeling pretty tired all day, and I've been looking forward to taking a _nap_ with you."

Azura couldn't help but scoff playfully and roll her eyes. Ever since they married, they both strived to have sex with each other at least twice a week. Normally, they would _do the deed_ either in the morning on days where they had nothing planned for the day, or at night before they drifted off to sleep.

Corrin preferred the "morning wakeup calls," as he so delicately put it, though Azura preferred making love at night, as to make it easier and more satisfying to drift off to sleep while pressed against Corrin, both of their bodies still flush from afterglow. Occasionally, they would spend some time when the day was over, in the hour or two before they ate dinner. But as a general rule of thumb, they stuck to mornings and nights, where the chances of a poor maid walking in one them was one in a million.

For a moment, Azura was tempted. It _had_ been a few days since their last bout but at the same time…it was a miracle she got pregnant _now_ compared to the countless times before when they had sex without protection, though that number was a lot smaller when compared to the number of times they used protection.

Unconsciously, Azura rested a hand on her stomach. Surely, sex wouldn't hurt the baby…right? That's how anatomy works…right?

Upon noticing Corrin looking at her hand in confusion, Azura simply shook her head and said, "Not today, Corrin. I'm still feeling a bit queasy, and I'm pretty sure if we do anything other than cuddling, I might just throw up on the bed."

Corrin raised his hands in mock surrender. "It's all fine, it's all fine," he said soothingly. "I get it. You're still sick. Plus, if we do it now, there's always a chance you could get pregnant, right? That's how it works, right?"

"…Eh, sort of." Azura said shyly. It wasn't, at least Azura thought it wasn't but who was she to correct him when even _she_ didn't have a clue what was going on with her body. She was still coming to terms about growing a person inside her.

Speaking of which…how would Corrin take the news?

Folding her hands together on her legs, Azura meekly called out, "Corrin?"

"Hm?"

"How…do you feel about having children one day?"

Corrin frowned, picking his words out carefully.

"It…would be wonderful to have a little one running around," he said finally after a brief moment of silence. "Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Azura said, turning away so he wouldn't see the way her face burned. "I was just asking. I mean, we _are_ going into our fourth year of marriage, and we _are_ getting older."

"Azura, you're twenty-eight years old," Corrin deadpanned. "If you're old, what does that make me?"

"Corrin, you're younger than me," Azura said, equally deadpanned. "You don't get to complain about growing old just yet."

"You're only older than me by a month!" Corrin protested.

"Your point?" Azura asked, turning her head and mischievously glancing at him out the corner of her eye.

Corrin opened his mouth to retort, but upon seeing the playful look in Azura's eye, he settled for sinking down on his haunches and shake his head mischievously at her.

"You are _so_ lucky we can't have sex right now," he said, grinning. "Otherwise, I would've railed you _so_ hard right now."

"I love you too, Corrin," Azura said, leaning over and placing a chaste, yet painfully sweet kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry, you'll get your chance one day."

"One day," Corrin murmured. "I love you too, Azura."

"Mmhmm…"


	5. Breaking the News

Azura wrinkled her nose and held the piece of steak away from her nose in disgust.

"Eugh, what is _up_ with this food?" she asked, sticking her tongue out. "Everything lately seems to smell like liquid death to me."

"I'm pretty sure it's just you, Azura," Corrin said, not bothering to give her a glance as he tore into his teak. "We've been over this before. I can't smell anything out of the ordinary with your food, which means it's _your_ nose, not mine."

"I can't eat this," Azura said, with finality, tossing her fork onto the table and pushing away the plate. "I actually can't eat this."

"Here, have some wine," Corrin offered, pushing his own glass forward. All throughout dinner, he noticed how Azura avoided touching her glass of wine almost religiously, almost as if she couldn't drink it at all.

That wasn't the only odd thing he noticed, however. Ever since the meeting with Count Hansen two weeks ago, Azura had been acting…odd. For example, she often took longer while dressing, often frowning at her stomach or turning around to look at her waist, as if she was afraid she gained weight. Azura would also frequently turn her nose up at food, claiming it smelled "absolutely horrid," yet was able to stomach some of the oddest combinations of food Corrin had ever seen, such as cheesecake with pickles sprinkled on top.

There was also this odd…odor around her. It was hard to describe, but it was like if Azura's characteristic sweet, strawberry scent had been mixed with something more…primal and instinctual. He had never smelled the second smell before, and it was driving him _insane._

It really was odd, but Azura had kept strangely silent on the matter, frequently blaming her monthlies. If Corrin didn't know better, he could have sworn Azura was hiding something from him, but he did know better. He knew from experience that Azura would only tell him something if she was ready to tell him, and not before.

It was one of the most infuriating parts about her, yet like so many pet peeves he had with her, the more he woke up to the sight of her blissfully asleep in the morning, the more he began to tolerate them.

And so, Corrin waited.

"No thank you," Azura said, pushing Corrin's wine glass back to his side of the table. "I can't drink it, not in this condition."

"In this condition?" Corrin parroted. "You keep referring to your illness as 'this condition,' but it's been two weeks since these symptoms first showed up! Are you _sure_ you don't need me to take you to the healer?"

"I've already been," Azura said dismissively, aimlessly toying with her food. The doctor said everything's fine with the b—"

"With the what?" Corrin asked. "Everything's fine with what?"

"…n-nothing," Azura said shakily. "Forget I said anything. I'm fine, don't worry about me, Corrin."

"You _know_ it's in my nature to worry," Corrin said frowning. "I know you like to keep your secrets, and I accept that, but if there's a chance you could die, then—"

"I'm _not_ going to die," Azura said, exasperated. "Honestly, Corrin, if you could stop worrying about me and the baby so much, it would make everything so much easier for us."

Corrin frowned. "What baby?"

Before Azura could answer, the sudden appearance of a maid offering to take away their plates broke his train of thought. As he smiled gently at the maid and offered to call for assistance upon noticing the noticeable bulge in the maid's belly, Corrin froze.

There was that smell again. That odd, distinctly familiar smell. It was a primal, instinctive smell, one that emanated from both the pregnant maid and…Azura?

_No way._

As soon as the maid disappeared around the corner, Corrin leaned forward and hastily took Azura's hand in his own. Surprised, Azura stared blankly at Corrin.

"Corrin, what's going—"

"Azura, I know you hate being confronted like this, but don't lie to me. Are you with child?"

Azura froze. How was she able to respond? _Could_ she respond?

For almost a month, Azura had kept the secret of her child exactly that—a secret. Save for Jakob, Silas, Felicia, and Flora, she was certain nobody else knew, so for Corrin to find out…

"…Yes," she managed to choke out. "I-I'm pregnant."

Almost as quickly as he had grabbed her hand, Corrin released her, his hands going to his forehead as he pushed his hair back. Azura nervously watched as Corrin got to his feet and paced around the balcony, the sunset behind them casting half of his face into shadow.

As for the half that Azura could see, she slowly watched as the small _o_ of surprise turned into one of the largest, if not _the_ largest grin she ever saw on her husband's face. As Azura watched Corrin pace around, grinning stupidly, she couldn't help but feel her own sense of mirth bubble up within her.

"You're not joking, are you?" Corrin asked suddenly, darting towards her and taking her hands again. "Please don't tell me this is some sort of elaborate joke."

"It's not," Azura said, smiling. "I'm pregnant, Corrin."

Corrin simply stared at her incredulously before leaning forward and picking her up from her chair, arms around her waist as he spun her around. At first, as he spun her, Azura had shrieked, both in surprise and fear, but as he slowed and Azura heard and felt the muffled laughter from where Corrin buried his face in her chest, she couldn't help but break out into a wide grin of her own as well.

"You're really pregnant?" Corrin asked again once he stopped spinning. "This isn't a joke?"

Azura nodded, tears suddenly springing to her eyes. "Yes," she forced out.

Then, as suddenly as he had grabbed her, Corrin leaned forward and kissed, his lips warm against hers. Azura used the opportunity to deepen the kiss. She tipped her head back, closed her eyes, and placed one of her hands behind Corrin's head while the other snaked its way down to his chest to feel his pounding heartbeat.

When they broke apart, both gasping for breath and flushed red in the face, Corrin chuckled touched her forehead with his own. "I-I can't believe it. W-we're going to be parents!"

"I know!" Azura squeaked when Corrin hugged her tightly. "You're going to be a father!"

"What about you?" Corrin asked, releasing her. "You're going to be a m—no, you're not going to be a mother. You're going to be the _best_ , the most beautiful, the most caring, the _most_ —"

Azura blushed. "Hush, you," she said, feeling this wonderful spark of joy light up inside her when Corrin rested a hand on her belly.

"—the most _wonderful_ mother," Corrin finished, eyes suspiciously bright. "She'll…love you."

"She?" Azura asked, mischievously. "Assigning genders already?"

Corrin chuckled. "Why not?" he asked.

Azura giggled as well before kissing Corrin again on the lips.

"Why not?" she agreed.


	6. The Culmination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This "chapter" is going to be a little bit different from the others. It'll be separated out into a bunch of small one-shots. Quality may fluctuate, but I'm generally pretty happy with how this turned out

**(1)**

"…Alyx."

"Hmm…no."

"What? Come on! Not Alyx?"

Azura shook her head, smiling. "I don't know…Alyx sounds too…asserting.

"What about Felix?" Corrin offered. "I heard it's supposed to mean 'fox-eyed,' or something."

"That's a boy's name, Corrin," Azura said exasperatedly. "I thought you said she was going to be a girl?"

Corrin sighed as he tore his gaze away from the stars overhead. The two of them were lying out on their balcony, stargazing, an activity Azura found to be particularly relaxing after a long day of fending off curious passerby about her "condition."

"Well, it's always better to be prepared," Corrin countered. "How about something more gender-neutral?"

"…Ada."

"Ada…" Corrin rolled the word around in his mouth, enjoying the feel of it. "Yeah…Ada…"

"Ada…"

* * *

**（2** **）**

Corrin looked up when Azura barged herself into his study, holding a pair of plastic bibs in each hand. Azura looked more excited than he ever saw her, and he could feel her infectious smile spreading to his own face.

"Look what Felicia and Silas found in the market today for us!" she said excitedly, almost squealing. "Look!"

Upon closer inspection, Corrin realized that one of the bibs was light blue and had a small yellow duck sewn into it while the other was soft pink and had what looked to be a small, cute-looking puppy on it.

"They're both incredibly cute," he admitted, grinning. "I can't choose."

"Neither can I!" Azura said, almost hopping up and down. "Why do these sorts of things have to be so hard?"

"I'm sort of liking the blue," Corrin said, reaching out to touch Azura's long blue hair. "Sort of reminds me of your hair."

Azura blushed. "So…duck?"

Corrin nodded grinning widely. "Duck," he confirmed.

* * *

**(3)**

"You know, I hope she takes after you when she grows up," Azura said fondly as she rested a hand on her growing belly. They were currently in their bedroom, sitting on the bed against the headband as they simply watched Azura's belly.

"Why me?" Corrin said innocently from beside her. His arms were wrapped protectively around her, though making sure to avoid putting pressure on Azura's belly. "You're a pretty amazing person too, you know!"

Azura laughed self-deprecatingly. "I'm just a simple songstress," she said half-guiltily. "Everybody knows I practically had no right to be royalty after everything, but—"

"Hey, hey, hey," Corrin said hurriedly, shifting his hands up so he could cup Azura's cheeks in his hands. "Don't talk about yourself that way! As far as I'm concerned, you are the most wonderful, most caring person I've ever known. You've helped me so many times, and you've suffered too much for me to even consider taking you as anything other than my wife."

Azura's eyes dropped to her belly, pursing her lips. "But what if they grow up to be like me? What if—"

"No what-ifs," Corrin interrupted, giving her a small kiss. "What's wrong if they grow up to be like you? As far as I'm concerned, _you_ are the best thing to grace this world, and if our Ada turns up anything like you, then all the better!"

Azura wiped away tears she didn't know had accumulated on her eyelids. "Thank you, Corrin."

"Of course," Corrin said, kissing her on top of her head. "Anything for you."

* * *

**(4)**

The first thing Corrin did when he walked into their bedroom and saw Azura sitting grumpily on the ground, surrounded by discarded dresses and skirts, he immediately pulled out his dragonstone and looked around the room warily.

It had been about eighteen weeks since Azura had gotten pregnant, and it had been approximately eighteen weeks since Corrin was able to walk around the castle freely without wondering if his wife was okay. Every waking moment was dedicated to her comfort, to her safety, and even the most pompous of nobles couldn't help but smile fondly at the young king whenever news of his wife caused him to either grin widely or jump to his feet and begin pacing.

Nobody could blame him, after all. Many of the nobles were older than Corrin by a relatively significant amount, but seeing the young king acting so full of both life, terror, and pure, unadulterated _joy_ was something even the most pompous nobles would have to suppress their smiles about.

"Is everything alright?" Corrin asked warily, once he was sure Azura was safe. "Do you need help getting up? What's wrong?"

Azura scowled half-heartedly, both touched by his sincerity and annoyed by how close he was always to her suddenly. Honestly, she felt like Corrin hovered around her like a mother hen at times, but when she was being reasonable, she knew it was just because he cared about her and the baby. But mostly, her annoyance was brought up by one key thing:

"None of my dresses fit me anymore."

_Oh._

Corrin hastily shoved his dragonstone necklace back inside his tunic as he knelt next to Azura. "I'm…sure…"

Corrin _had_ to be careful of his word choice. Just last week, the relatively innocent statement of " _Oh, that dress fits you really well today! I could barely tell that you're pregnant!"_ from him had resulted in several yanked ears, shouts, and a red-faced Azura chasing after him with a sandal.

Who knew sandals could hurt so much?

This time, Corrin said nothing, partially because he had nothing to say that would comfort her, but also because he knew nothing to say that would prevent Azura from flying in a fit of rage.

As a songstress who was often self-conscious of her appearance, Azura could be a bit…touchy when it came to her weight, something he had learned that the hard way.

Thankfully, it appeared no words were needed this time, for as soon as he knelt next to Azura, she put her head against his shoulders and immediately closed her eyes. Before long, he felt her weight shift against him and heard the cute telltale signs of her snores, something else the healers mentioned pregnancy would bring. Sighing fondly, Corrin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before carefully moving to pick her up and place her in their bed.

As soon as she was safely swaddled in blankets, Corrin leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Sleep tight, my little princess and queen."

* * *

**(5)**

Azura didn't know when Corrin left, but when her hand sleepily reached out for his familiar warmth, she felt nothing but empty air and cold bedsheets. Blinking her eyes sleepily, Azura slowly sat up. A thin sliver of silver moonlight shone the gap in the windows, showing that the moon outside was still very full and very bright, which told Azura that it was probably _very_ late.

The near-extinguished candle on the nightstand on Corrin's stand also supported that statement, and although the light offered by the candle was practically nonexistent, it was enough for Azura to see that the room was entirely devoid of a white-haired half-dragon.

"Corrin?" she called out, yawning. "Corrin, where are you?"

A slight clatter coming from their washroom caused Azura to swivel her head around. At the same moment, Corrin awkwardly staggered out of the washroom, one hand lazily scratching his back as he looked up at Azura.

"What are you doing up so late?" he whispered, his red eyes glowing suspiciously brighter than usual in the darkness.

"I could ask the same of you," Azura countered, swinging her legs off the bed to grab her husband's arm. "What were you doing in the bathroom?"

Corrin shrugged. "Bathroom things," he said simply.

Azura sighed. Of course. What was she expecting? "Come back to bed with me, would you?" she asked. "The bed's a lot warmer with you around."

To Azura's concern, Corrin did not move. In fact, he stopped moving entirely. Even his eyes remained locked on the bedpost. When Corrin refused to budge even when Azura tugged at his arm, she stopped and frowned. Corrin was normally very open and relaxed normally, in both personality and body language. For him to be frozen like this meant that something was wrong.

"Corrin?" Azura asked, tilting her head. "Corrin, are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure," he said, sounding very unconvincing. Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, guess I spaced out there for a second. I was busy…thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Azura asked, pressing a palm flat to his tone chest to feel the reassuring beat of his heart. "Baby stuff?"

"Er, yes and no," Corrin said. Clarifying, he hesitatingly asked, "Azura, do you ever wonder what… _traits_ you want to pass onto Ada?"

Azura tapped her chin with one finger. "Hmm…I don't think so, necessarily. Why? Have you?"

Corrin nodded. Silently, he pulled out his dragonstone attached to a necklace and presented it to Azura. "What if…"

Azura's eyes widened as she realized what Corrin was implying about their future child. "Oh gods, Corrin," she whispered.

She stepped forward as much as her growing belly would allow and wrapped her arms around him. He swiftly responded, but not as fast as Azura would have liked.

Pulling away, she reached up to touch his face and said, "Don't think about that. There's no way Anankos could affect her, not anymore."

"But what if?" Corrin said, reaching up and gently prying her hands away. "I-I mean, I'd like to consider myself Anankos-free when it comes to my biology, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm still half-dragon. What if Ada ends up like me, forced to use a dragonstone all her life lest she go mad? Or, what if—"

"No what-ifs, Corrin," Azura said gently. "We've talked about this before. You're the _kindest_ man I know. I know you won't allow her to turn out like Anankos, and I _know_ she won't be anything like you."

Corrin grimaced. "T-thanks."

Azura grimaced herself. "N-not like that!" she exclaimed. "I meant they won't have the same…temperament as you!"

"That's…not any better."

Azura sighed. "Just…just shut up and take this for me, would you?"

Before Corrin could do so much as take a step back, Azura quickly closed the gap between them once more and pressed her lips to his in a deep kiss. For a moment, he hesitated before his hands automatically went up to her head to cradle it.

When they pulled apart, flushed and gasping for breath, Azura took Corrin by the arm and slowly dragged him back to bed. "We won't let anything happen to her," Azura said with conviction. "And if she does turn out to be like you, then we'll help her get through it. Together."

"Together?" Corrin asked.

Azura nodded firmly. "Together."

* * *

**(6)**

When Corrin heard Azura cry out, he literally dropped everything he was doing and came running into the bedroom, half-dressed. His eyes tore the room apart as he searched for the cause of her distress, dragonstone already pulled out.

Instead, he was greeted to the sight of Azura grinning widely at her stomach as she gently placed her hand on top of the bulging skin.

"Azura?" Corrin called. "Are you alright?"

To his surprise, when Azura looked up at him, instead of fear or shock on her face, there was only pure, unfiltered _joy_ in her beautiful features.

"She…she kicked, Corrin! She kicked!"

Corrin lowered the clenched fist holding his dragonstone and stared at her in confusion. "She…kicked?" he asked. Then, realizing what she just said, his own face began to light up in excitement and joy. "She kicked?"

Azura nodded, tears threatening to overspill. Corrin hurriedly rushed over to her, one hand resting itself on her back as the other one found its way onto her belly. "Where did she kick?" he asked, barely able to contain his excitement. "Where?"

"Here," Azura said, taking his hand and moving it a few inches to the left. For a few moments, both wife and husband were absolutely still until Corrin suddenly flinched and retracted his hand sharply, a broad smile breaking out on his face.

"Did you feel it?" Azura asked excitedly.

"Y-yeah!" Corrin stammered, still in shock. "I-I can't believe it! I can't wait!"

"Neither can I," Azura said tearfully, reaching up to kiss him happily. Corrin was only too eager to kiss her back.

* * *

**(7)**

"…just saying, how do we know if the child is really his? She was a dancer in the war, wasn't she? It could be possible that she bedded another man during that time! She could still be seeing him, for all we know!"

"…true…she _is_ a bit too quiet and reclusive for my taste. She could be seeing that other man still."

Corrin froze, hands clenched together into fists.

He had experienced court life enough to know that save for talk about usurping the throne and similar topics, court gossip was exactly that, gossip. He could tolerate a few jabs and insults at his expense, but the _one_ thing he would never allow were insults to his wife. _Especially_ his pregnant wife.

"Would you like to repeat that?" Corrin said loudly, stopping in his tracks and causing Silas behind him to stumble and curse under his breath.

The two nobles flinched and looked up at him. "M-milord!" one of them said. "W-we weren't expecting to find you here!"

"And I wasn't expecting you to find the two of slandering my _wife_ ," Corrin said angrily. "And I was _definitely_ not expecting you two to be slandering the queen of New Valla. Explain yourself!"

One of the nobles took a hesitant step back while the other gave him a nervous look. "Well, you see, milord…" he said, wringing his hands. "We were simply…concerned about our queen's loyalty to you. You see, for being a Queen, she is oddly reclusive and—"

"And that's your argument?" Corrin thundered. "'She's quiet and she's shy?' _That's_ your excuse?"

"M-milord—"

"Need I remind you that I will _not_ tolerate this kind of talk against my wife!" Corrin said, stomping towards them, finger angrily raised. "You all know me to be a forgiving man, but the one transgression I will _never_ forgive you for is for insults against the queen of Valla, my wife, and most importantly, the _mother_ to _my_ unborn child. Am I understood?" By the end, Corrin was almost shouting.

The two nobles were almost shaking in their fancy robes. As they hurriedly nodded and scooted away, as far from Corrin as possible, Silas uttered a low whistled and crossed his arms behind Corrin as the two men watched the nobles scurry away.

" _Daaaamn_ ," Silas said, grinning. "Don't think I ever saw you that mad before, Cory."

"The same damn rules apply to you too, Silas," Corrin growled.

Silas chuckled and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, never could find anything bad to say about Azura five years ago, and I'm not about to start looking."

* * *

**(8)**

"Ooh, how far along are you?"

"What's their name?"

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Can I touch your stomach?"

If there was one thing Azura hated about being pregnant, it was the sharp decrease in mobility. Now that she couldn't see her own feet (which had brought forth its own stream of tears that day), she felt even more like a whale. A swollen, misshapen whale at that.

Balance was hard to find sometimes. It was practically impossible to bend down at the waist now, and Azura constantly had to rest one or both hands on the back of her hips to feel like she wasn't going to fall forward. All of these new changes were hard to get used to, but the _one_ change Azura wished she could reverse was the changes to her running speed.

Years past, Azura was surprisingly one of the fastest people on the battlefield due to her dancing skills, though she wiped out unusually early on training runs. That same level of agility was retained even after the war was over and Azura found herself able to swiftly duck around a corner whenever she saw a crowd of nobles bearing down on her.

Now that she was pregnant, however, such things were impossible. The most she could do was waddle awkwardly like some sort of bird, and even then, Azura felt like her belly was going to rip away from her body if she did it for too long, and thus, Azura was forced to contend with the mobs of noblewomen that seemed to be everywhere.

Azura desperately tried to answer as many questions as she could without stopping her waddle. "Far enough. Ada. We don't know. No. Stop that. Soon."

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Azura rounded the corner and saw the open door to her room. Corrin was already instead, standing in the middle of the room as he curiously perused through a notebook. He looked up as the sound of a crowd of noblewomen reached his ears, and to Azura's irritation, a flicker of amusement flashed in his eyes as he saw Azura desperately trying to escape from them.

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" he said, spreading his arms out and gently pushing the women back. "I think that's enough questions for today. Your queen is tired, and I'm sure she wants some time to herself."

"But—"

"One more question!"

"Can I at least touch her stomach before I go?"

Corrin grinned easily at them, though Azura could that the firmness in his eyes was as good as any answer. "No. Have a good afternoon, ladies."

As Corrin forced the door shut, Azura sighed and sat on the bed, rubbing her aching feet. At the same time, Corrin sighed as well and slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor.

"Long day?" he asked.

Azura nodded. "They've been chasing me around all day. You?"

Corrin shrugged. "Could've been worse, could've been better."

"That's good."

For a long while, the two simply remained in a comfortable silence. Finally, Azura broke the silence by saying, "Do you think we're truly ready for a child?"

"Of course," Corrin scoffed. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"I-I don't know," Azura said, looking abashed. "They were asking so many questions. It was almost as if we weren't supposed to have any kids and they were surprised that we went ahead and got one anyways."

"Nah, that's just nobility to you," Corrin said, shaking his head exasperatedly. "Always trying to poke their noses into somebody else's business but never wanting to tell anyone their own dirty secrets. It can be pretty irritating at times, but don't worry. Just a few more months of this, and they'll leave you alone, right?" Corrin tried for an easy-going smile.

Azura smiled. "Yeah, hopefully."

* * *

**(9)**

"Hey Corrin, guess what?"

"What?"

"Month nine just rolled around."

The two of them were lying together in bed, both flushed from their most _recent_ activity. Sure, Azura may be pregnant which made it risky for Corrin to be on top of her and nigh-on impossible for Azura to be on top of Corrin without crushing him (sometimes she had been surprisingly light-hearted about), but gods be damned! they were going to find a way!

Either way, after they both finished, Corrin simply laid on his back, facing the ceiling while Azura tried to snuggle up to him as best she could. It was hard, considering the massive bulge in her belly, but she made it work.

"How do you know?" Corrin asked.

"Oh, I just looked at the clock," Azura said mischievously, pressing a kiss to the underside of Corrin's jaw. "You know what that means, do you?"

Corrin couldn't help but grin. "Oh yeah, I do. Celebratory lunch tomorrow?"

Azura grinned as well. "What do you think?"

* * *

Everything had happened so fast.

One moment, the servant had brought Corrina and Azura their dishes. Azura had noticed that the servant was actually Mando, one of the servants who had harassed her a couple of months, but the man had been surprisingly light-hearted about the whole ordeal, apologizing to both Corrin and Azura (Corrin had glared at him for a full minute before turning his attention back to Azura).

Like before, Azura had noticed a red glint in his eye as he turned around to deliver their drinks, but when she brought it up with Corrin, he dismissed it as a trick of the light. After all, she _was_ nine months pregnant.

Right as they were about to dig in, Azura had wrinkled her nose and gagged at her dish, which consisted of some grilled fish and asked if she could swap with Corrin, who had some sort of salad with some berries sprinkled around it. Corrin gracefully accepted, and one moment, they were both enjoying their meal, and the next, Corrin was kneeling on the ground next to Azura, cradling her in his arms, screaming at her to wake up and for the servants to call for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a precaution, I'm sorry


	7. The Aftermath

When Silas finally found Corrin, the half-dragon was alone in the training yard, busy turning the training dummies into dust and practice swords into useless shards of metal. As Silas watched Corrin swing a sword towards a training dummy with enough force to cut through both metal and straw, he couldn't help but think back to the utter _fear_ he felt in his stomach when he heard Corrin's cries of help and found Azura lying unconsciously on the floor, skin gray and clammy-looking.

For a moment, Silas was tempted to call out to his friend but decided against it. There was no way Corrin wouldn't notice the presence of another person in the training yard, and when Corrin hurled the broken sword he was using into a pile of similarly shattered swords, he turned towards and said three words:

" _How is she?"_

Uncharacteristically nervous, Silas wrung his hands together before stepping forward. "She's…not doing so good," he reluctantly admitted, eyes downcast. "We…don't know what happened, but we seem to think she was poisoned."

" _Gods_ fucking _dammit_!"

Silas flinched and hastily retreated as Corrin turned around and slashed at the nearest training dummy, his arm transforming into a giant mouth with gaping jaw. Silas watched, both fascinated and terrified as he watched the mouth shred the dummy into splinters.

After a moment, when the training dummy was practically reduced to atoms, Corrin transformed his hand back into its human form and reared on Silas. "Will she live?"

Silas wanted to say yes. He _desperately_ wished to say yes, but how could he lie like that to his friend, even when the lie was about his pregnant wife's life? He just couldn't do it!

"I…I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "The healers said that…the baby may not live if things get worse."

" _How_ , pray tell," Corrin growled, glaring at Silas, "can _this_ get any worse? My wife and unborn child are in danger, and you're telling me there's something _worse?_ " He laughed humorlessly. "Tell me, Silas, what would _you_ feel in this situation if Felicia and Sophie were the ones dying?"

"Azura and the child won't die!" Silas said, placatingly raising his hands. "You gotta focus on the bright side, Corrin!"

"And _how_ the _fuck_ am I supposed to focus on the bright side when my wife and unborn child are lying in bed, _dying_?" Corrin shouted furiously, gesturing towards the castle. " _How,_ Silas? Huh? _How_?"

Silas opened his mouth and stammered for a reply, but after a few stutters, he found himself devoid of a reply. Corrin simply bared his teeth in a growl that revealed his inhuman nature before turning and striding away.

"Bring me another dummy and a sword," he ordered.

Silas found his voice again. "Milord, I—"

"Did…I…stutter?" Corrin growled, looking back. "I said bring me another one!"

Silas sighed. He desperately wanted to help Corrin. Beating training dummies into the ground wouldn't help him at all but at the same time…what else could distract him? Silas had only heard tales of Corrin being this angry before, and that was _before_ he had a dragonstone to control himself. If he lost himself to his rage now, who knows what it'll take to bring him back under control?

Corrin tapped his foot impatiently as he settled into an _en guard_ pose. "Silas!" he roared. "Bring me another!"

"Yes, milord," Silas said sullenly. He gazed up at the window which led to the room he knew Azura and the child was kept in. Although he was not a pious man, he found himself praying to every god and deity he knew.

_Please, if there's anyone out there, please let them get through this alright. Please._

* * *

Corrin didn't know how long he stayed in the training yard. A few people came and went, usually looking worried or muttering condolences, but none of them other than Silas really stayed, which Corrin was fine with. Lilith had arrived a few hours ago from Notre Sagesse where she had been part of a volunteer project to translate and preserve the Rainbow Sage's books, yet Corrin had been unable to tear his gaze away from the training dummy before him.

Even as Lilith apologized for not being there for him and Azura, cried for her brother's loss, and tearfully shook his arm, begging him to please talk to her, Corrin said nothing. Instead, he shrugged her off as he stooped down to pick up another sword from the training rack.

Eventually, even Lilith left him, albeit reluctantly and in tears, which left only one person behind.

"Milord, you really must stop!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Otis," Corrin growled as he hacked another training dummy into bits. "You have…" he grunted as he yanked his sword out of the dummies' straw stomach, " _no_ idea what I'm feeling."

"On the contrary," he said coolly, though he sad look in Otis' eyes grew even sadder as he watched the king take another sword from the training rack and hurl it into a training dummy with enough force to crack the post holding it up in half. "I know _exactly_ what you're going through, and unlike most others, I can relate and share your feelings on this matter."

"There's nothing to share," Corrin growled. "I'm worried about Azura and Ada, and that's it. There's nothing to discuss."

Otis sighed and sat down on one of the remains of the few dummies Corrin didn't _completely_ destroy. "On the contrary," he said again. "You're not just worried about Azura and your child, you're _angry_ at those who sought to hurt her in the first place."

Corrin buried a sword into the ground. "So? What if I am?" he said vehemently. "Am I now not allowed to worry about my wife and unborn child simply because I'm the king?"

"Of course not," Otis said, "but because you are the king, you cannot let others see you like this."

"Like what?" Corrin asked haughtily. "Taking my anger out on training dummies?"

"In a way," Otis admitted. "Already many nobles have been talking about your…behavior. Of course, many of them already know of the accident, and—"

" _Accident?"_ Corrin asked, rearing on the older man. " _Accident?_ Accident? That was no accident! Someone deliberately poisoned _my_ Azura! _My_ child! How was that an accident?"

"I misspoke," Otis said hurriedly. "Many of the nobles have already heard news of the assassination attempt, and although many of them understand your plight, there are a few who question if you are…mentally sound following this whole ordeal."

"I am perfectly fine physically and mentally," Corrin growled. "I just want this whole… _thing_ to stop existing."

"I know you do," Otis said soothingly, "but you have a kingdom to take care of. Few people will care about this incident so long as it doesn't affect them. So long as people see that _you're_ able to continue, they won't lose hope, but should word spread that the king has given in to his inner rage and is acting like a wounded owlbear…"

Corrin turned around and refused to say anything. Otis sighed and reached up to pat him gently on the shoulder.

"I know you're angry right now, milord," Otis said quietly. "I know I felt the same way when I lost my own family, nigh on twenty or thirty years ago. I wanted to scream at the gods and tear them down with my own bare hands or die trying, but in the end, I realized the only person I was harming was myself. Consider it lucky that Lady Azura was still alive and breathing when we found you two, or else, she could have followed a similar fate to my own wife."

"And the child," Corrin muttered, almost too low for Otis to hear.

"And the what?" he asked.

"Ada," Corrin said, louder this time. "Don't forget about her either. She's in just as much danger as Azura, if not more."

"Ah yes, the child," Otis mused. "O-of course, I can't promise that she'll be completely fine…but I'm sure the healers will do everything they can to make sure both of them are healthy."

"…"

Otis sighed and rested a hand on Corrin's shoulder. "You should get some rest, milord," he advised. "You'll have a _very_ busy day tomorrow, and you'll need your rest. If you choose not to sleep, then please, for Lady Azura's and my own sake, refrain from doing anything reckless. The healers will need every ounce of their concentration to heal Azura, and distractions will only endanger her and the child."

Corrin worked his jaw as if he was chewing on something incredibly hard and bitter. "Fine," he snapped, whipping his cape around himself and walking away, into the castle. "Have the agenda on my desk by tomorrow morning. I'll deal with _them_ myself."

Otis nodded. "Yes, milord."


	8. The Interrogation

Corrin blearily looked up from his and Azura's stack of paperwork as a knock on the door woke him from his uncomfortable nap. Ever since Azura had been poisoned and was lying in their bed, unconscious, Corrin was forced to take up both of their workloads. The workload was…crushing. Between holding court and doing all the paperwork for _that_ , he now had to cover for Azura's own workload. Otis had offered to help him with Azura's part, but Corrin declined. He _wanted_ something that distracted him from his everyday thoughts, mainly because those thoughts currently involved a songstress lying in their bed, poisoned, pale, and on the brink of death.

Corrin shook his head. _No, stop it. Don't think about that right now. Focus on what's in front of you._

Corrin couldn't help but scowl as the person knocked again, more insistently this time. "Milord?" someone called, and Corrin vaguely registered the voice as belonging to Kaze. "Milord, are you in there?"

"What is it?" Corrin called back, lifting his head up from the desk as Kaze walked in.

It had been while since he saw the green-haired ninja. Despite technically being Corrin's head spymaster, Corrin rarely saw or talked to his friend. Between his castle duties, taking care of the homestead he shared with Mozu, and taking care of their child, Corrin often went weeks or months without seeing even a single hair of his friend. Now, he was glad that he never released Kaze from his service, a notion he had debated over for the longest time, though he was sure the ninja would help him in this situation no matter what.

"What is it?" Corrin asked roughly. "I'm _busy_."

"Busy taking a nap, apparently," the green-haired ninja said dryly. Noticing the dark circles under his liege's eyes, he added, "You should take a break, milord."

"I _can't_ ," Corrin said, gesturing to the massive pile of papers scattered on his desk. "I have work."

"You're only doing this to yourself so you won't have to think about Lady Azura," Kaze said, observant as always. "It's not healthy."

Corrin glared up at Kaze, who stared back steadfastly. "It's not _your_ wife that was poisoned," he snapped. "How about this? You and I switch places. You can be the one dealing with the knowledge that your _pregnant_ wife was poisoned and is on the brink of death, and _I_ can be the one helping you track down the culprit. How's that?"

Kaze bristled, an unusual show of discomfort from the usually cool and level-headed ninja. It pained him to see his friend like this, it really did, but at the same time, he couldn't help but sympathize with his situation. If Mozu was the one poisoned, Kaze would probably be burying himself up the head in work just to avoid thinking about it, but then again…

"That's not important right now, milord," Kaze said, steering the conversation back on track. "We've captured the culprit."

Corrin's eyes widened as he sat up, instantly awake despite his aching bones. "The culprit?" he asked. "Like…the one who—"

"Yes," Kaze said, nodding firmly. "The very one. We caught him just a few minutes ago, and we're taking him to the dungeons as we speak."

"Take me to him," Corrin demanded, standing up.

"Of course, milord," Kaze said, inkling his head before turning around to lead Corrin out from his office.

As Corrin passed the glass case containing Yato, he paused and looked at the golden weapon. After a moment's consideration, Corrin shrugged and opened the case, buckling the golden scabbard onto his belt.

Sometimes, words won't cut it.

* * *

Corrin had been in the dungeons only once before, and that single experience was enough to change his view on how he handled court. He considered New Gyges to be a very nice place to live. He wanted it to be a place of joy and happiness, as cliché as that sounded, but as Corrin learned the hard way, there can be no joy without sorrow.

Torches flickered and cracked along the gray stone walls as Kaze led Corrin down a passageway lined with cells. The stone was cold and wet under Corrin's bare feet, and Corrin was forced to duck more than once in order to avoid a stray cobweb.

Finally, after walking for what felt like forever, Kaze stopped in front of a cell and spoke a few words to the guard in front of it. Satisfied, the guard stepped to the side and allowed Corrin and Kaze to approach the cell. Corrin stopped and looked at the prisoner inside.

It was the servant who had served had served him and Azura that fateful day. It appeared that he been dragged here involuntarily, judging by the bruises and cuts along his face and arms. His hands were chained together to the ceiling, and as Corrin's eyesight adjusted to the darkness of the cell, he saw the one of the man's eyes was missing, obscured by a lock of black hair.

"Wake up, inmate," the guard said nastily, rattling the cell bars with the butt of his lance. "Your majesty would like to have a few words with you."

The servant lifted his head up, confirming Corrin's suspicions that the man was indeed missing an eye. The servant stared back at him blankly, almost if he was staring through him instead of at him. The dullness of his gaze concerned Corrin, but he forced that feeling down.

_Remember, he tried to kill Azura and Ada. He doesn't deserve_ _**anything.** _

"What is your name?" he said, gripping the cell bars with his hands.

The servant said nothing.

The guard pointed his lance through the space between the bars and roughly prodded him with the butt of his lance. "Hey, look up when the king's talking to you. Answer his question."

The man groggily spat some blood onto the floor as he glared at Corrin. "The name's Mando," he said. "Mando Rusworth. Son of Garald Rusworth and—"

"I don't care who your parents are," Corrin said coldly, tightening his grip around the call bar. "I'm here to talk, and you _will_ answer me."

"Fat chance," Mando said, spitting out another glob of blood. "I've already confessed to everything. I poisoned Lady Azura accidentally while trying to poison you, milord."

"Don't you dare say her name!" Corrin said, banging the cell bar and causing everybody, including Kaze to flinch and look up at the half-dragon. "After what you've done to her, you don't _deserve_ to say her name."

"As you wish, milord," Mando said sardonically.

"He's been like this for hours now," the guard whispered to Corrin. "Besides his confession and his name, we haven't been able to get anything out of him."

Corrin looked at the guard out the corner of his eye. "I thought you said you just caught him?"

"That's my mistake," Kaze said hurriedly, stepping in between the two men. "We actually caught him about four hours ago, trying to sneak out of his city. He hadn't shown up to his shift and the other servants were talking about it, so I pulled a few strings and had him captured before he could escape."

"And you didn't tell me?" Corrin asked angrily. "I should've been the first one to know! If anything, I—"

The sound of low chucking paused Corrin's words in half and the three men turned to see Mando laughing darkly to himself. His chains rattled noisily as he pulled on them, and as Corrin gripped the cell bar again, Mando asked mockingly, "How would you feel if Lord Anankos could see you know? Or worse…" he waggled his eyebrows, "…Lady Azura?"

Kaze was the first to recover. "What…did you just say?" he asked. "Lord Anankos is dead, and so is his power."

Mando gurgled again as he broke into a coughing fit. Blood splattered the floor in chucks as he continued laughing. As soon as his fit ceased, Mando shook his head and said, "If only you knew, little dragon. Lord Anankos and his power will _never_ die. He shall reign forever, and with him, we shall—"

Mando gurgled again as something long, white, and black pierced his belly. Kaze and the guard looked at Corrin in surprise as they saw that he had transform one of his arms into a long dragon lance, the point of which was embedded into the wall on the other side of Mando's body.

Mando coughed again, splattering the limb piercing his body. "Knew it," he coughed. "It was…only…a matter of time…before… _urgh._ "

Slowly, Mando's body fell limp, and as he died, Corrin could make out the words "All hail Anankos," under his breath.

For a moment, both Kaze and the guard stared in shock at Corrin and at the servant's limp body. Like before, Kaze was the first to recover and he grabbed Corrin by the shoulders.

"What did you just do?" he said. "What did you just do?"

"What I had to," Corrin said simply. He transformed his lance-arm back into its normal form and looked pointedly at the guard. "Say nothing of what happened here," he ordered. "Am I understood?"

The guard hurriedly nodded. "Y-yes, milord," he stammered. "Of course."

"Good." Corrin turned towards Kaze. "Make sure we get rid of the body. Leave no evidence."

Kaze frowned. "But milord, you—"

"Leave. No. Evidence." Each word was hard and cold, and Kaze couldn't help but shiver at the cold fury in his friend's voice.

Kaze desperately wanted to act as a friend and grab Corrin by the shoulders and shake them until his anger dissipated, but he made an oath to himself long ago that he would always put duty above all else. It was a hard oath to live by…but it certainly grounded him at some points.

This was the first time he wished it didn't.

"Of course," Kaze said, twisting his hand over his chest in a respectful gesture. "As…as you wish."


	9. The News

There had only been three times in his life where Corrin had voluntarily dropped Yato. The first time was when he took a gaping blow across his sternum to save Azura from the literal clutches of a Faceless. The second was when he saw the daunting army before him during their final battle with Anankos, and the third was when he cast the legendary weapon aside to hug Azura after the battle.

Today marked the fourth.

" _What?_ "

The young woman before him clasped her hands together nervously. "I'm sorry to tell you that because of the poison…the two of you may lose the baby."

The world seemed to turn around Corrin as he staggered back. His hand let Yato drop to the ground as he caught himself on one of the few training dummies he hadn't eviscerated yet. The ground seemed to spin underneath him, and Corrin felt himself wanting to throw up more than once as he looked up at the nurse.

"You're lying," he finally stammered out. "You're lying. There's no way we could have lost Ada this late."

The nurse pursed her lips. "I-I'm sorry. Doctor Ludwig already ran dozens of tests on the womb. We're detecting no signs of life from Lady Azura other than her own."

"You're…you're lying!" Corrin shouted jabbing a finger at her. "Take me to her. I want to see this for myself."

"Milord, please!" the nurse begged. "Barging in now would only disturb the queen's rest, and—"

"I don't care," Corrin growled, pushing past her. "Either you take me to see her, and I turn the door into splinters."

Corrin left the nurse behind in the training yard as he pushed his way past the hallway. Servants and knights most stumbled back in alarm at the hard look on his face, but Corrin could not bring himself to care. All he cared about was reaching his room.

When he finally reached the door, he all but tore the door away as he stomped in. He felt a small pang of guilt at the cries of surprise and shocked expressions from the healers as he grabbed the doctor by the front of his tunic and shook his hard enough to fling his glasses across the floor.

"Tell me you're lying," he growled. "Tell me our child is alright!"

"I'm zorry, your machesty! All zee zigns are zere!" the doctor exclaimed. "Ve'fe tried effery manner of sbell, herb, and trick! Ve can't find hanozer zign of life!"

Corrin stared blankly at the doctor. Then, slowly, he released the doctor's shirt and let his hands fall to his sides.

"I…I see," Corrin said simply. "Is…is there any hope…?"

"I'm afraid not," the doctor said. Then, awkwardly, he added, "If…If vu visch, ve could leaffe zee tvo of vu alone. Let vu zau zome final koodpyes."

"Doctor Ludwig!" one of the healers exclaimed. "You can't just—"

"He dezerffes it," the doctor said. "No one schould haffe to zuffer zis kind of loss, Hesbecially ven zee child vas zo cloze to Harriffing. Let him haffe his time. Arh ! Zere's nein risk to zee badient if he doesn't touch Hanyzing."

Slowly, reluctantly, the other healers rose and shuffled past Corrin, out the door into the hallway. The doctor was the last to leave, and as he shuffled past Corrin, he rested a hand on his shoulder and murmured, "I'm zo zorry for your loss, your machesty. Truly, I am. Put don't forget zat...zat first schtep tovards Hoffercoming grief is anger or denial. It's natural to feel zis vay, Hesbecially afder zomezing like zis. If vu or Lady Asura effer haffe need of Hadffice, I could—"

"We'll be fine," Corrin said flatly. "Just give us space."

The doctor retracted his hand. "Of course. Call us if vu need hanyzing."

When the doctor closed the door behind him, Corrin continued staring blankly at his wife. Then, slowly, he sank to his knees, buried his face in his hands, and began to cry.


	10. The Waking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I hate this as much as you do, but in the grand scheme of things...you'll see why I had to punish myself this way.

When Azura opened her eyes, it was dark. Save for the flickering candle on her nightstand and a small crack between the curtains in front of the windows, the room was completely dark.

Azura frowned as she realized that she was almost completely naked underneath her bedsheets, save for her smallclothes. Clutching the blanket to her chest for modesty, Azura slowly sat up, wincing as she felt a pounding headache assail her forehead. When the pain stopped, Azura forced her eyes open and looked around the room.

"Corrin?" she called out gently.

Something moved in the darkness and Azura squinted towards it as she heard a chair being pushed back along the floor. A figure walked towards her, and for a moment, Azura was hopeful that it was Corrin, though it was soon tempered by disappointment when she realized it was none other than the healer that had declared her pregnant in the first place.

"Ah, zo vu'fe redurned to us, milady!" the doctor exclaimed, joyously clasping his hands together. "How do vu feel?"

"Not great," she admitted. Azura winced again and rested a hand against the side of her head when another wave of headaches pounded her forehead. "I have a pretty bad headache."

"Ah, zat vould be ein hunfordunate zide effect of zee antidote, milady," the doctor said apologetically. "Vut vorry not! It schall fade in due time."

"Antidote?" Azura asked. She lifted her hand against from her head as she looked around the room. "Wait, why am I in my room? What happened? Where's Corrin?"

"Mein, zo many gueszions!" the doctor said, pushing his glasses up with a finger. "Vorry not. Allow me to fetch your huspand. He is just houtzide. He schall tell vu vat habened."

Despite the gentle smile plastered across his face, Azura noticed how the doctor looked uncharacteristically nervous. Azura watched silently as the doctor rose from his chair and opened the door. She heard a few muffled words passed between him and what sounded like Corrin's voice, and then Corrin's silhouette stepped into the room.

"Azura?" he croaked. "Azura, are you there?"

Azura was shocked at how _tired_ he sounded. Just a few minutes ago, before she passed out, Corrin's voice had been full of life and energy. Deep, yet playful. Solid, yet warm. Now Corrin just sounded… _tired._

"I'm over here," Azura called softly, smiling at him. "On our bed."

She couldn't see Corrin moving around in the darkness but judging from the almost-silent curses under his breath and the occasional sharp intake of breath, Azura guessed the floor must be littered with something. After a few moments, Corrin's face finally appeared, bathed in the flickering orange glow of the candle next to Azura.

His red eyes were full of worry and something else Azura couldn't identify. After a moment, Azura started as she realized that it was _fear_.

Corrin gingerly took Azura's hand in his own, almost as if he couldn't believe she was here. Azura felt the worry inside her intensify when she felt how much his hands shoo, as if he had seen something particularly jarring or horrifying.

After a moment of silence, Corrin cracked his parched lips open and rasped, "Azura?"

"Hmm?"

"Are…are you alright?" Corrin averted his gaze away from her eyes. "How do you feel?"

"Apart from a slight headache, I feel fine," Azura said. She gave him a smile and turned her hand over so they could interlock fingers. "It's going to take a lot more than a black-out and some bad salad to keep me and Ada down."

Azura was expecting a sigh of relief or witty jab from Corrin, but to her concern, all he did was purse her lips and squeeze her hand. "I wish it was just a bad salad," he said, surprising Azura again with the bitterness in his tone.

"You were poisoned," he suddenly said, looking up at her. "Kaze, Lilith, and Otis did some investigating and it turns out you were poisoned."

"Poisoned?" Azura gasped. Hands flew unbidden to her mouth. "Me?"

Corrin nodded gravely. "We…we managed to figure out that the poison was wyrmsbane, a type of berry that comes from a rare plant in the Spine, Nohr's most dangerous mountain range."

"Wyrmsbane…" Azura said, letting the word roll off her tongue. For some reason, even the mere sound of the word caused her to feel a shiver down her spine, and as she saw how tense Corrin seemed after merely saying it, she knew he felt the same way about the poison.

"Let me guess, the plant is toxic to those of us with dragon blood inside of us?" Azura asked.

"Only the berries," Corrin clarified. "According to Lilith and some old journals she brought from the Rainbow Sage's library, the leaves of the plant itself is actually very healthy. It supposedly helps keep our scales clean and our breath fresh, but the berries themselves are like poison to us. Even one could potentially send me into a heart attack, and I already have a strong resistance to most poisons because of my blood."

"I'm surprised I lived then," Azura mused. "If one of those berries could almost kill me, imagine how it would affect a normal human."

"That's the thing," Corrin said, clenching his fist. "The berry is _only_ toxic to dragons. Normal humans could eat the berry and get a slight stomachache, but dragons who eat it could potentially die."

Azura felt her blood freeze as she realized the implications of what Corrin said. "But…you were the one who ordered the salad," she said quietly. "If it wasn't for me…"

"I would've died," Corrin finished. "But after seeing you like that, passed out on the ground, I would've gladly eaten those berries if it meant saving you and Ada."

"Don't say that," Azura scolded, but only half-heartedly. She took his face in her hands and stared into his ruby eyes. "The important thing is that all of us are safe and alright."

Corrin's gaze fell and this time, Azura could physically feel her blood chill as Corrin whispered, "Not all of us."

"What do you mean?" Azura pulled her hands away. "All three of us _are_ okay, right?"

Corrin gently took her hands in his own. When Azura looked at Corrin, she was shocked to see a single tear sliding down his cheek. "Azura…we lost her…we lost Ada."

Azura felt the world freeze around her.

" _What?_ "

Her hands automatically moved to rest on her belly, as if to confirm her child was still there. As soon as the palm of her hands rested flat against her belly, Azura knew that Corrin told the truth. Ever since the baby had first kicked, Azura always felt this _energy_ inside her that came from the baby. It was as if Azura could sense Ada's life, but when Azura rested her hand on her belly, she felt no such energy.

Tears leapt unbidden to Azura's eyes as she stared at her stomach, unable to process what was going on. Corrin, who had remained stone-faced and silent the entire time Azura had checked her stomach, suddenly turned his head away and made a choked sound in his chest.

She knew Corrin was trying to hide his tears from her to make her feel better, but Azura didn't care. She didn't care about anything right now. She just…didn't. She felt empty.

When she faintly registered Corrin's hands taking her own and squeezing it, she squeezed back. When the doctor and his assistants cautiously peeked into the room a couple hours later to check on them, the two of them were still crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there. Yeah, I know a lot of you were caught off-guard, shocked at, or just plain upset at the 180 this story went, but trust me. All of this will come full circle in the end. Loss of life is no joke, especially if that life happened to be something you created with the love of your life. It's a serious matter, and it's because of this reason that I am announcing that I will be delaying the next chapter.
> 
> I know, that sucks. I've had some people say that they will (jokingly) riot if I don't update within three weeks...and I hate to break it to you, but it ain't happening in three weeks. Similarly to how I wrote Chapter 27: Endgame in Arc 2: Into the Ground, this next chapter will be a long one. In fact, this next chapter could be the length of six or seven of your favorite works combined, assuming they're one-shots, of course. Chapter 27: Endgame was 90k PLUS words, excluding the author's notes. 90,000. That's the length of some entire books. And here's the thing:
> 
> This is a one-man job, right now.
> 
> That's right. There's been one person who's been working on all these chapters for y'all. One person, and that's me, an 18-year-old high school senior who's about to go into his first year of college.
> 
> I love doing this, I really do, but there comes a time where I need to pump the brakes and slow things down a little. Note: THIS IS NOT A HIATUS OR RETIREMENT ACCOUNCEMENT. I am simply telling you guys that over the course of the next 2-3 months, I will be working on Part 11, but due to the extremely sensitive content in it, I must make sure everything is spot on. Some of my chapters have noticeable flaws. I'm aware of this. I hate them. I want to grind my teeth at how poorly I wrote those. I want to fix them, but with me churning out at least 2-3 works/chapters every month, I haven't had the time (or drive) to do it.
> 
> So this is what's going to happen. I'm going to be going radio silent for the next 2-3 months while I work on Part 11. Expect extremely heavy topics. It won't be to everyone's liking, and if you're put off with that kind of thing, I'm sorry, you're going to have to wait another 2 weeks after I post it. During that time period, I will also try to go back and fix as many flaws as I can. This would be MUCH easier if you guys all told me something you didn't like or wish to see changed either through leaving a review or by directly messaging me.
> 
> When I'm done with Part 11 and I'm satisfied, you guys will be the first to know. When Part 11 ends and The Parturiency is wrapped up, then I'll finish up Arc 4: Tales of a New Valla, and then we'll launch into the 5th and final arc: The Reckoning (obviously temporary name but you guys have been so good to me that you deserve to at least know what I'll be working on).
> 
> But until then, I'll be going dark. Seeya

**Author's Note:**

> I would just like to thank The Apocryphal One for writing this short little work on her tumblr that ended up being the inspiration of this entire chapter. I would also like to thank everyone who's been keeping up with the story. I know I haven't been updating nearly as much as I used to in the past, and I'm sorry, but between school, work, college-apps, and constantly being distracted, it's been..."difficult" for me to squeeze out any ideas. I know I said I would finish this story, and I will, but I'm afraid this work will never reach the amount of publicity I thought it would, especially after the release of Three Houses. If the worst comes to worst and this story ends up dying...I'm sorry. I gave it my all, but I'm pitted against a pretty steep cliff, and I don't have the metaphorical climbing gear to scale it.


End file.
